Storiesonline.net ------- Hunter by Lazlo Zalezac Copyright© 2007 by Lazlo Zalezac ------- Description: The phrase, 'may you live in interesting times,' is an ancient Chinese curse. Mike Bowman is rebuilding his life after a minor wound received in Iraq cut short his military career. Join Mike as he lives through the interesting times that follow when terrorists bring the 'War On Terror' to the United States. Codes: MF rom ------- ------- Copyright© Lazlo Zalezac, 2007 ------- Chapter 1 Mike Bowman used the remote to turn off the news concerning the contentious appointment of some minor political friend of the President to an insignificant ambassadorial post overseas. He wasn't all that interested in hearing the typical Democrat versus Republican political dance since he had more important things to do with his time. He was scheduled to defend his dissertation later that afternoon. Seated on the couch next to him, his wife, Karen, said, "I was watching that." "Sorry," Mike said reaching for the remote control to turn it back on, "I just wanted to go through my talk one last time." "Don't worry about the news. Focus on your presentation," Karen said with a grin. Hopefully, by the time the afternoon was over she would be married to Dr. Mike Bowman rather than just plain old Mr. Mike Bowman. The years of being married to a poor college student were coming to an end. Within ten days, Mike would be starting his new job at the CIA. Almost as if he was reading her mind, Mike asked, "Are you ready to move to Virginia?" "I'm not so wild about Virginia, but I'll be happy when you start your new job," Karen answered. She loved living in Boston and she would have loved to stay there. However, there were advantages to living in Virginia rather than Boston. Her parents lived in Chevy Chase, Maryland and they would be right down the road from them. "You don't mind being married to a member of the US intelligence community?" Mike asked with a grin. His new job was within the CIA as an intelligence analyst focusing on high energy weapons development programs by various countries overseas. "I don't know, Mister Marine. My Daddy is a Naval Officer and he always says that the phrase Military Intelligence was an oxymoron of the highest order," Karen said with a light teasing tone in her voice. She looked at him and, batting her eyes, said, "I'm not sure how I'll feel about being married to an oxymoron." "Oh, I'm wounded," Mike said with a laugh. She was always teasing him about how Captain Vincent Dougherty viewed Marines. He had met the Captain back when he was still in uniform and had just begun dating Karen. He knew his father-in- law's views about Marines and they were far better than Karen liked to imply. Despite the jokes, it was easy for Karen to see that her husband was concerned about his defense. Wanting to keep his mind off it, Karen said, "You know, after this afternoon you are not going to be plain old Mike Bowman any more. You're going to be Dr. Bowman." "I hope so," Mike said. His advisor had told him that it was basically a done deal and he shouldn't expect any problems. After all, no one knew as much about the material as Mike. No matter how much he knew about the topic, there was always that little bit of fear that he'd fail the defense. "Well, I'd like to fuck plain old Mike Bowman one last time. Of course, I'll have to entice the esteemed Dr. Bowman to bed tonight so that I can compare his performance," Karen said with a wink. "Hmmm, I wonder what will be the result of your comparison," Mike said reaching for his wife. He liked it when she talked dirty like that as a precursor to sex. Karen looked and acted like a very proper woman as befitted an officer's wife, but she could surprise the unwary person with the words that came out of her mouth at times. She giggled when he pulled off her tee-shirt and discovered that her breasts were hidden behind a bra. This wasn't one of her lacy little bras that looked sexy. This was one of her heavy duty bras built for support. The look of disappointment on his face was almost too cute. After six years of marriage, Mike still found Karen to be the most attractive woman he had ever met. She wasn't the standard hard body or anorexic type that graced the covers of women's magazines. Mike didn't care about women who looked like that. Other woman might think that she was five pounds overweight, but he thought she was womanly with all of the curves that made a woman a woman. With her light brown hair and green eyes, she looked like the girl next door. He, and most men that he knew, thought she was sexy. Karen enjoyed the expression of delight that her body brought to her husband. The physical attraction wasn't only one way. His broad shoulders, flat stomach, and muscular arms and legs took her breath away. At the age of thirty-two, Mike was still in great shape. He jogged five miles every day and worked out every morning following habits instilled as a Marine. Every time they went to bed, she was the lucky recipient of his fitness. The injury that had cut short his military career after two years of service was more of an irritant than a liability. He had never imagined that a simple hole through his hand would have such an impact on his plans for the future. The hole wasn't enough to completely disable his left hand; only two fingers were affected. According to the military doctors he was five percent disabled and no amount of physical therapy would correct it. The wound came too early in his career and not being able to have further combat experience would slow his career as a Marine Officer to a crawl. Once in bed, they proceeded to make grand and glorious love. Years of knowing exactly what made the other feel good allowed them to take their time. Mike had learned to use a slow hand on her body and she loved it. She enjoyed everything a couple could do in bed and provided the kind of variety that kept his interest. Their sessions in bed often lasted for four or five hours. The session that day was only two hours long. Both Mike and Karen would have been disappointed that they had been rushed except for the knowledge that he had to get to school to defend his dissertation. While he went off to jump through the last hoop of his quest for a Doctorate, Karen stayed at home to pack up the house for the move. They would be leaving for Virginia in four days and there was just too much work left to be done. She paused and looked around the house trying to decide if he would appreciate her support at the University. The past four years had been tough financially and she was looking forward to easier times. Money was always tight despite his military benefits, research assistantship, and her job as a legal secretary. Time had always been tight with her working full time and him working long hours in the lab. Boston was not known for having a low cost of living. It seemed the only time they spent together was when she was typing his dissertation. Mike had been touch typist, but that was now impossible. The bullet had taken out bone, tendon, and nerves rendering his little finger and ring finger useless. His damaged hand made it difficult to type the letters: a, s, q, w, z, and x. Now he had to be a hunt and peck typist. That made typing anything of significant length a long laborious process. She didn't mind a single moment of the time spent together at the computer working on his dissertation. If anything, it made her even more proud of him. Marines didn't allow obstacles to prevent them from accomplishing their goals and Mike was a Marine through and through. He recovered from his injury, his career setback, and charged on to establish a new career. He might have had his doubts and concerns, but he didn't allow that to hold him back. Karen decided that rather than going to the university, she was going to make a nice dinner and dress up for him. He liked it when she did things like that. To tell the truth, she liked how he showed his appreciation when she did things like that. Mike returned home from his defense satisfied with the result. He was now Dr. Mike Bowman, although there were still a few minor things to finish. He had to correct a couple of typographical and grammatical errors. He then had to submit five copies of his dissertation along with a copyright form. It wasn't much considering the years of work that had gone into it. The university would have the copies sent out to be bound and he was looking forward to getting a bound copy. Entering the dining room, he could see that Karen had gone all out and set up a nice formal meal that significantly dented their budget. The table was set with the china and silver they had received as wedding presents. There was even a very expensive bottle of wine on the table. The candles were waiting to be lit. All of her dining room preparations paled beside the beauty of his wife. She was wearing her slinky black dress with the low front and even lower back. He was pretty sure she was wearing a garter belt to hold up the stockings that encased her legs. She had even done her hair up to show off her graceful neck. Adopting a very sad tone of voice, Mike said, "It is such a shame that we have nothing to celebrate." Karen looked at him thinking that he had not been successful in defending his dissertation. She didn't even know what they would do if that had happened. After being worried for a second, she realized he was teasing her. She swatted his arm and groaned. Attempting to sound angry, she said, "You are so bad." "Didn't you know that a Doctor of Philosophy in Electrical Engineering can't be bad?" Mike asked with a grin. "Why?" "We're too dorky," he said with a grin. She was always teasing him that he'd turn into a complete dork when he got his degree. "I'll dork you!" she said in a threatening voice. It was too difficult to pretend to be angry and she burst into a grin. "Nope. I plan on dorking you very thoroughly after dinner," Mike said moving in and hugging her. The hug turned into a kiss that lasted long enough to threaten dinner. Stepping back, he looked her tenderly in the eye and said, "I love you, Mrs. Bowman." "I love you, Dr. Bowman," she replied. The celebratory dinner was outstanding as was the after dinner celebration in the bedroom. It always turned Mike on when she wore her stockings and high heels to bed. Early the next morning, the couple was hard at work finishing the last touches of the dissertation. Karen scrolled through the document and entered the corrections. Habits gained as a legal secretary served her well. Mike watched from his seat beside hers fully familiar with the speed and accuracy of her work. It only took her an hour to finish what would have taken him all day. Turning over the last page, she said, "It's done." "Yes. We need to print up five copies on the heavy paper and then drop it off at the school," Mike said watching the monitor as the computer saved the updated document. When the computer finished with the save, Karen started printing the document. She sat back and said, "It is printing." "You know that I could never have done this without you," Mike said. "I know and I'm going to make you pay for that every day for the rest of your life," she said in a teasing voice. She gave him a little nudge in his side with her elbow. He reached over to the mouse and opened a document. In a soft voice, he said, "This page goes at the very beginning; right after the cover page." Karen's eyes misted as she looked at the dedication on the screen. Aloud he read, "This dissertation is dedicated to my lovely, brilliant, and supportive wife, Karen. Without her understanding and love, I would not have had the motivation to finish my research. Without her intelligence and wit, the results presented here would never have been possible." "That's lovely." When she looked up at him, he said, "I love you, Karen Agnes Bowman. I look forward to growing old and gray with you by my side." Wiping the tears from her eyes, she said, "Look at what you made me do. I'm crying." A tissue appeared in his good hand and he used it to wipe the tears from her face. Looking at her with a loving expression, he said, "You've never looked more beautiful to me." "You're too good to me," she said. "Me? You've supported us while I've gone to school. When we married, I promised you that you would be able to pursue your Doctorate in Political Science. Now it is time I keep that promise. When we get to Virginia, I want you to apply to Georgetown University. They have a program in Government," he said handing her an application packet. "You don't think that it is too liberal at Georgetown?" she asked looking down at the packet in her hand. "Maybe, but I don't really know. The current political environment is just too confusing for me to decide how I feel about it. I'm not sure if I'm a liberal, conservative, Democrat or Republican anymore. None of our current leadership seems to be all that concerned about the good of the country," Mike answered. "What bothers you the most?" "I don't know. Maybe it is the partisan bickering that has over taken Washington. People are saying the most outrageous things about the situation in Iraq and I can't believe that they actually believe what they are saying," Mike said looking down at his two useless fingers. There had been a time when he had been willing to give his life for his country. He still felt that way, but it was moderated by the idea that he wasn't willing to give his life for the leadership of this country. "My Dad keeps saying that we win every battle and lose every war. Watching Iraq, I think he's right," Karen said. The American forces were emerging from every engagement victorious, but it seemed that they were losing the war. It didn't make sense to her or to Mike. "I know. Your father and I have had long talks about that in the past. The Captain doesn't understand why that is any more than I do. We engage the enemy and win, but as far as the world is concerned we lose. It doesn't matter what we do, everyone says that we lost. "Mogadishu is an example of that. We won that battle. We killed so many of those Somalia militiamen that it isn't even funny. We lost eighteen men and they lost between 1000 and 1500. We had seventy-three wounded men and they had between three and four thousand wounded. In my book that is definitely a win for our side. "What happens? President Clinton declares it a loss. We pulled out leaving behind an even larger mess. The situation there is worse now than it was before," Mike said in disgust. He had served with a few men who had been there and they were still angry about the withdrawal. To a man they believed that if they had stayed, they could have cleaned up the war lords who remained. Mogadishu could have been stabilized. "It was a mess," Karen agreed. "It was a cluster fuck of the highest order. Lots of good men were killed and even more were wounded. Regardless, our men fought and overcame the enemy," Mike said feeling far more bitter about it than was justified. He hadn't been there, but he took it personally. Karen smiled and said, "You sounded just like daddy there for a minute." "I know," Mike admitted. The dissertation finished printing. Karen printed out the dedication before turning back to Mike. She asked, "Do you think that working for the CIA may help you change things?" "I don't think so. I don't think that the terrorists will be using high energy weapons anytime soon. Everyone thinks they're going after weapons of mass destruction like nuclear bombs and biological weapons. I don't think so. I believe they'll use a dirty bomb long before they get around to nuclear or biological weapons. Most likely they'll use chemical weapons in the form of chlorine gas. Actually, they are already doing that. It's not too difficult to steal a couple of chlorine gas cylinders and blow them up." "So who will you watch?" "I'll be watching the scientific communities of Russia, China, and Europe. Lots of people think that China is our friend, but I don't think so. They occasionally exhibit very aggressive behavior that suggests they aren't as friendly as we think. The jury is still out on Russia," Mike answered. Karen smiled at his answer. This was old territory for her. Mike and her father didn't trust communists. They didn't even trust former communists believing that leopards don't change their spots. Despite the President's assurances to the contrary, they didn't trust Putin. The single page finished printing and Mike slipped the dedication into the proper place. Lifting the dissertation, he said, "One of the committee members remarked that it was one page short of being heavy enough to be acceptable. At least we've corrected that situation." "Oh, you're horrible," Karen said. He grinned at her and said, "Well, I could always insert a page with the text, 'This page intentionally left blank, ' as a solution." "Don't you dare! I love what you wrote about me," Karen said giving him a playful swat on the arm. "Do you want to go up to the school with me?" Mike asked. He felt guilty about her having to do most of the packing for the move. Karen looked around the room and sighed at the amount of work that remained to be done before they could move. She answered, "Go without me. I've got to get back to packing." After Mike left, she took a minute to write an e-mail to her mother. Mike had surprised her; she hadn't even thought of including a dedication in the dissertation. She attached the dedication page thinking her mother would enjoy reading it. Although she often teased Mike about her father, her parents liked him a lot. Vincent Dougherty, in his role as Navy Captain, approved of the Marine and, in his role as a father, was pleased that his daughter had chosen a man with moral character. It was very early in the morning three days later when Mike and Karen got into a moving van to drive from Boston down to Maryland. Although it was supposedly only a seven hour drive, Mike suspected that it would take them closer to nine hours after stopping for lunch and gas along the way. They'd have to take it carefully since he was towing their car behind the rental truck. They were planning on staying at her parent's house in Chevy Chase until they found a place of their own in which to live. Her father was currently assigned to the Pentagon and was at home rather than at sea. Mike was looking forward to seeing Captain Vincent Dougherty again. He liked and respected the man. The drive was just as bad as Mike had predicted. The traffic was particularly bad that day. Grumbling, he said, "I hate the traffic here." "There must be some protest or something going on at the mall," Karen said referring to the mall behind the White House. Some of the protests held there could involve huge amounts of people and tie up traffic two hours outside of the capital. "I'm not aware of any protests being held. It is probably that school is over for some of the kids and their parents are bringing them here to visit the capital," Mike said. "I respectfully disagree, Dr. Bowman. There are protests in Washington almost every day," Karen said. She batted her eyes at him even as she said it. Mike laughed and asked, "You respectfully disagree?" "Oh yes, Dr. Bowman," Karen said nodding her head. "And why do you respectfully disagree?" Karen pointed to the car in front of them and said, "Check out the bumper stickers on the cars in front of us." Mike looked at the car in front of him and read the bumper stickers. The one that caught his eye read, 'Stop The Murder, Leave Iraq.' Calling the soldiers murderers was the same tactic that had been used in protesting the Vietnam War. He was angered by the bumper sticker. He growled and said, "Mother Fuckers!" Karen said, "Don't get upset. They are idiots." Mike said, "They are calling us murderers when we are the ones trying to stop the terrorists. The terrorists are the ones who are blowing up bombs in the middle of crowds of innocent women and children. Don't they have a clue?" "Well, they think that all of the killing is because we are there. They believe that when we leave there will be peace there," Karen said. Shaking his head, Mike said, "They are right. After the terrorists, Islamic radicals, and extremists are done, there will be the peace of the dead there." ------- They pulled up to the house of Karen's parents around six that evening. It was a large house by local standards. The lawn was immaculate. Mike said, "I see that everything at the Dougherty house is ship shape as usual." Karen laughed at his comment and said, "That's right, buster. Daddy will have you scrubbing the floors before it gets dark out." The couple laughed at the long standing joke. It was one of the first things her father had said to Mike when he had started dating Karen. Imitating her father's voice, Mike said, "All Marines are good for is scrubbing the deck. We've got a kitchen floor that needs cleaning. Get to it." "The look on your face was priceless," Karen said laughing at the memory. She said, "The look on his face was pretty good too when you saluted and said, 'Yes, sir.' I thought he was going to die when you went in the kitchen and started washing the floor." "We were both in uniform," Mike said with a crooked grin. Karen's mother, Sally, raced out of the house to greet them. Karen jumped out of the rented U-Haul truck and hugged her mother. Mike got out of the truck and went over to greet the excited woman. He noticed Karen's father come out of the house in a much more distinguished manner. Rather than interrupt the hug- fest between mother and daughter, Mike met the Captain with his hand out. The men shook hands. Mike said, "It's good to see you again, Captain." "You're my son-in-law now. You don't have to call me Captain," Vincent said repeating what he always told Mike whenever they met. He was actually pleased that Mike called him Captain. "I'd prefer to call you Admiral, but that's up to you," Mike said with a grin. Vincent laughed and asked, "What do you call your father?" "Colonel," Mike answered. "Where is your father?" Vincent asked shaking his head at Mike's answer to his previous question. "He's over in the Big Sandy," Mike answered. ------- Chapter 2 Mike finally finished with the activities in the Personnel Department and returned to the lobby of the original Headquarters building of the CIA. He paused to look around. Every time he had been there, the architecture of the building had overwhelmed him. The great seal on the floor of the main lobby building gave him chills. He knew it was old fashioned, but symbols, such as the CIA seal, meant something to Mike. His boss, Dale Dawson, was there to meet him. Smiling, Dale walked over to greet Mike. The man walked with a slight limp. On reaching Mike, he said, "Impressive, isn't it." "Yes, sir," Mike answered. "I'll take you to where you'll have your desk. It's in a secure area. I'll give you the codes to get in when we reach my office," Dale said. He glanced at Mike and said, "Before we go there, I want you to see something." Mike followed Dale to the north wall of the lobby. Dale stopped in front of a marble wall in which stars had been chiseled. The area with stars was flanked by two flags: the American flag and the flag of the CIA. Below the stars was a book. It contained the names of the men being honored on the wall. Pointing to it, Dale said, "Each star represents an agent who was killed in the line of duty. They are going to add another one to it today." The memorial was powerful in its simplicity. Mike swallowed heavily and asked, "Who was it?" "That's classified. We'll never know his name or mission," Dale said. "I understand," Mike said. He felt like saluting the wall to honor those who gave their lives in defense of the country. ------- Mike finally settled into his cubicle inside a secure area deep within the building. It wasn't much of an office, but it was going to be his for a long time. He'd been taken around and introduced to the other members of his department. The introductions had been short and he knew that it would be days before he could remember everyone's name. Atop his desk were manuals explaining how to treat classified material. He was going to have to read all of them before getting access to the material necessary for his job. Ready to get to work, he picked up the first manual and opened it unprepared for how boring the contents were. His eyes drifted over the page after reading the first four paragraphs. He sighed and said, "This is going to be a very long day." He sat back in his chair and attacked the manual with renewed energy. The procedures for requesting information were laid out in excruciating detail. The procedures for returning classified information were just as bad. There were even procedures for dealing with his filing cabinet. He looked over at the massive filing cabinet in his cubical and then back at the manual. He was nearly done with the first manual when one of his coworkers stopped by his office. It took Mike a couple of seconds to recall the man's name. He said, "Sanjay, isn't it?" "Yes," Sanjay answered with a slight wobble of his head. "What can I do for you?" Mike asked. "I have a list of initial reports that you should read," Sanjay said handing him a sheet of paper. Mike had been expecting such a list to provide the current assessment of the areas that he was to monitor. He glanced down at the paper and noticed that it was marked Secret. He tried to remember the procedure for dealing with papers like that and couldn't recall it. Nodding his head, he said, "Thanks. I'll get to it." Sanjay wobbled his head and said, "You'll probably want to put that in your filing cabinet until you're ready to use it. I use the top drawer of my filing cabinet for material like that." "I was just trying to remember how to treat classified memos," Mike said. The head wobble as a way of signaling agreement had always bothered Mike, but he was just going to have to get used to it. It might not be politically correct, but he always felt that a head wobble was a sign of stupidity. No matter how hard he tried, he could never get rid of the image of one of those bobble heads that some people had in their cars. "I remember when I started here. There were so many things to learn that I nearly went crazy," Sanjay said with a smile. He said, "You'll get used to it." "I suppose," Mike said with a sigh. "You have a lot of reading to do. I won't disturb you any longer," Sanjay said. "Thanks for bringing this by," Mike said holding up the sheet. Sanjay had been right. It didn't take Mike too long to get used to all of the procedures for handling classified material within a SCIF (a Secure Compartmented Information Facility). The whole purpose of a SCIF was to allow people to work with classified information without making it impossible to function effectively. ------- Mike had known that finding an affordable house was going to be difficult. The good neighborhoods around the capitol were expensive. For the first month in Virginia, they looked for an affordable place near Langley. Each weekend they slowly enlarged the area they considered until they finally had to settle for an old fixer-upper in Leesburg, Virginia. It wasn't that far in terms of distance from where Mike worked, but the commute was going to be a killer because of the traffic. The couple who had originally owned the house had rented it out. The last tenant had completely trashed the interior and rather than try to repair it the couple had decided to minimize their losses by selling the property. Mike had gotten estimates on how much it would cost to hire a contractor to come in and fix the house. The estimated amount had been rolled into the mortgage. Instead of hiring a crew, Mike intended to do most of the work himself. He'd do all of the work inside the house except for the electrical work. The roof needed replacing and he'd hire a roofer for that. He ordered a huge dumpster for all of the debris that he'd be pulling out of the house. On the first Saturday after the closing, Mike and Karen entered their new house and looked around at the mess. Mike said, "It needs a bit of work." "A bit? I think you're crazy wanting to fix it yourself," Karen said. It wasn't that she doubted his ability to fix the house, but felt that it would take too long. Walking around the living room, Mike examined the walls taking in the holes that someone had put in them. The renters had even pulled some of the copper wire out of the walls. The carpet was old, worn, dirty, and smelled of mildew. Grunting, he said, "The first thing I'll do is gut the interior of the house. Everything has to go. That includes the walls, the carpet, those horrible light fixtures, and everything from the kitchen. It's going to be a lot of work." "How long will that take?" Karen asked looking in the darkened bedroom. There were rotting curtains hanging over the windows. "That'll take about two weekends with a little help from your Dad. I'll fix up the bathroom first and then the kitchen. Once those two rooms are in place, we can move in," Mike answered. "Just how much time before we can move in?" Karen asked. "Oh, two or three months," Mike answered with a shrug of his shoulders. He wasn't afraid of a little hard work. Of course, the house was going to require a lot of work. He said, "It won't be done by then, but it'll be livable." "That's not too bad," Karen said. They had talked about his plans while going through the process of purchasing the house, but now that it was theirs she was impatient to move into it. Mike walked around the rest of the house trying to envision how it would look once everything was repaired. It was a standard three bedroom ranch style house typical of those built in the 1960s. Most of the closets were too small and he wasn't going to correct that problem. That would require even more work than he was willing to put into it. There were two bathrooms; one of which was in the master bedroom. He knew it was the master bedroom because it had the bathroom. While Mike was in the kitchen checking out the appliances, Karen slipped out the front door and went to the car. She returned a minute later with a pair of overalls. She stripped down to nothing and put on the overalls. When Mike returned to the living room, he looked at his wife with a grin. He said, "No one ever told me that overalls could look that sexy. I can see your nipples from here." Karen glanced down at her chest and asked, "Are you saying that I'm supposed to wear a shirt, too?" "I'm not saying that at all," Mike said with a grin. He walked over to his wife and kissed her. Life was good and looking better. For the next hour, they expressed their love like newlyweds and christened their new house with all of the appropriate grunts and groans. Their visit to the house wasn't all fun and games. After christening their house with their physical expression of love, they spent the rest of the day moving the tools that would be required to fix up the house into one of the bedrooms. ------- Mike sat at his desk reading one of the reports on the Chinese research program in high energy weapons. The report was highly classified and concluded that their program was not as extensive as that in the United States. Mike didn't believe that for a minute. It looked smaller on paper until one considered how many Chinese were working on American projects. From personal experience he knew that there were a lot of Chinese students and former Chinese Nationals working in critical research areas on campuses across the country, but there wasn't a word of that in the report he was reading. He put the report down on the table and shook his head at the incompleteness of the report. His boss chose that moment to come into his cubical. Dale Dawson was a tall man who had been a field agent during the cold war and transitioned into the role of an analyst after his cover had been blown by a mole. He still had a limp from that little adventure. He asked, "So what do you think?" "I think it barely scratches the surface of the Chinese research program," Mike answered looking over at his boss. There was obvious disgust in his voice concerning the report. Not entirely surprised by Mike's assessment, his boss asked, "What do you mean?" "I mean that it doesn't include the research activities that their citizens are performing here," Mike answered tapping the report. "That's a domestic issue. We don't do domestic," Dale said dismissing the objection. Shaking his head, Mike asked, "How can we say we are assessing the Chinese research activities if we discount their activities here?" "Are the people working here spies?" Dale asked with a twinkle in his eye. Mike sat back and stared at Dale for a moment. The students and professors were here legitimately. They were openly working on those programs. They were actively collaborating with each other. They were even paid by their projects to present papers in Chinese scientific conferences. Everything they were doing was legal, but they were contributing to the Chinese research programs. He said, "I don't know how to answer that question." "If they are spies then we ask the FBI to investigate them," Dale said with a dismissive gesture. He watched Mike's reaction very carefully. "Are they spies if they openly give scientific information to the Chinese government through legitimate channels?" Mike asked. "No," Dale said shaking his head. Officially they were not spies if they were acting within the rules. The rules might be wrong, but that didn't mean anything. "But they are essentially an integral part of the Chinese research program," Mike said finding Dale's attitude puzzling. "You have to understand how things operate around here," Dale said taking a seat in the second chair in Mike's office. Crossing his legs, he said, "We are constrained by law to look outside of our national borders for activities that threaten national security. When we learn about activities inside this country, we hand that information over to the FBI to investigate. If a crime isn't occurring, there is nothing the FBI can do about it." "This is insane. Our research dollars and national laboratories are directly supporting the Chinese, but we can't say that in our assessment of their research programs?" Mike asked. "That's right," Dale said. Eyes twinkling, he said, "You can try to write a joint report with the FBI, but I think you'll find it rather difficult unless you can show a clear and present danger to our National Security. Let me remind you of one thing, China is a friend of ours." "You don't believe that," Mike said looking at Dale critically. "Officially, I believe it. I keep my personal opinions to myself," Dale said pleased to see that Mike agreed with his private beliefs on the matter. Shaking his head, he said, "You might want to do the same." Mike nodded his head thinking that it might be the best advice he had gotten since starting his job. He said, "Thanks for the advice." "On a totally different topic," Dale said, "Chang is returning from China in a couple of days. You might want to talk to him about what he found." "Isn't Chang originally from China?" Mike asked recalling Chang from when he first started working there. "Yes, but he's an American citizen now," Dale answered. He nodded his head at the dismayed reaction of Mike to that little piece of news. He winked and said, "You'll have to learn how to hide your reaction a little better than that if you expect to last very long here." ------- Vincent looked at the interior of the house. The walls had been stripped down to the framing. The carpets and tile had been pulled up. The few light fixtures that had been in the house were gone. All of the kitchen appliances had been removed. There wasn't much left to the interior. Looking down at the blister on his hand, he said, "Well, it looks to me like we've got everything out of here that needs to be removed." Tossing a beer to his father-in-law, Mike said, "Thanks a lot for all of your help, Captain. I don't know how we would have managed it without you." Vincent held the cold can against the blister for a second while he said, "Don't think anything of it. I've enjoyed getting a little physical after holding down a desk job for so long. Besides, you're helping to build a future for my little girl. How could I stand by and watch?" "Well, I just want you to know how much I appreciate it," Mike said. He looked down at his left hand and wished that it functioned better. Two useless fingers made a lot of tasks a lot more difficult. Noticing the glance at his hand, Vince removed the cap from the beer and threw it into the large trashcan in the middle of the room. Gesturing to their surroundings with his beer, he asked, "So what's the plan?" "I've got to get an electrician out here to replace the wires that the renter pulled out of the walls," Mike answered. He took a sip of his beer appreciating the cool liquid in his dry throat. "Why would anyone rip the wires out of a house?" Vincent asked shaking his head. "They probably sold the copper," Mike said. "It's a sick world we live in. It makes me wonder what this country is coming to when people do things like that," Vincent said. He took a sip of his beer and sighed in satisfaction. Nodding his head, Mike said, "Sometimes it makes me wonder why I risked my life by serving my country. It seems to me that most people don't appreciate the sacrifices that have been made on their behalf." Vince looked at Mike wondering what provoked the comment. Shaking his head, he said, "The people who did this are a minority. Forget them. Remember that the majority of people are good honest folks, who believe in, and support, the American way." "I know that, Captain. It's just that at times I find it a little difficult getting beyond the vocal rabble that hate this country," Mike said with a sigh. "Something is bothering you," Vince said. He took a sip of his beer watching Mike over the bottle. Mike told his father-in-law about the discussion concerning China that he had with his boss. Vince listened to the whole story without comment. The story only confirmed what he already knew. When Mike finished, Vincent moved closer to him and, in a very soft voice, said, "Never let one of the foreign nationals suspect that you doubt their loyalty. You'll be thrown out of the agency so fast that your head will spin." "Why?" Mike asked surprised by the advice. "We live in an era of political correctness. A foreign government sent them here to study science and engineering, paid their way through school, encouraged them to get jobs here in premier research institutes, and allowed them to become American citizens. You and I both know that they are agents of that government. Despite that, the do-gooders believe that these people are going to put America first. We have to act like we believe the same thing. To act otherwise is un-American," Vince answered. The sarcasm in his voice while he said the last part was thick and heavy. "It's wrong," Mike said. He took a long draw from the beer bottle. Nodding his head in agreement with Mike's comment, Vince said, "The Chinese aren't the only ones to watch. There are Russians, Germans, French, Indians, and Arabs working their way throughout the system. Watch out for the Muslims, they are everywhere. Not all of them are Arabs." Mike shook his head and asked, "Why are we allowing this to happen?" "There are some people who believe that by filling our country with the friends and family of hostile powers that they'll hesitate to attack us. There are others who believe that these people will grow to love America and want to protect it," Vincent answered. He paused for a minute and then shrugged his shoulders before continuing, "There are some who believe that other cultures have just as much to give to this country as we have to give to them. Believe it or not, a lot of people are enamored of Islam. They truly believe that it is a more peaceful religion than Christianity." "We're giving this country to the damned terrorists," Mike said. He knew enough not to say that every Muslim was a terrorist, but deep down inside he believed it. The nice old man praying to Allah might not be blowing himself up, but he was contributing money and moral support. Vince smiled at his son-in-law pleased to see that the two of them were in complete agreement. He said, "This is a great country and I want to keep it that way. I'll work inside the system to keep it great for as long as I can. I'll support every weapon development program that improves our ability to bring the fight to the enemy. I'll support every research effort to make our troops safer and more effective. I can't change the political climate, but I can do my best to keep our military ready to defend this country. You're in a good position to do the same thing. Don't blow it." The discussion came to an abrupt end when Karen came in the house carrying a bucket of chicken. She looked around the house and said, "Wow. You two were busy while I was gone." "We just have to clean up a bit and we're done for the day," Mike said. The tools were scattered over the floor where they had left them after wrestling out the stove. It had taken everything they had to carry it out to the dumpster sitting in the driveway. Tomorrow he and Karen would remove the wallboard from the kitchen. Then it would be up to the electrician to rewire the house. "I was sure that you were going to save the sweeping and mopping up for me," Karen said with a laugh. She had helped pull the wallboard down, but had not been much help with some of the heavier stuff. "That's right," Mike said with a wink at Vincent. Smiling, he said, "The Captain was just telling me that I had to hurry and get the kitchen done. His wife is rather anxious that I'm never going to steal your shoes." "Steal my shoes?" "How else am I going to get you barefoot and pregnant in the kitchen if I don't steal your shoes first?" Mike asked. He edged away from her when she bent down and put the bucket of chicken on the floor. Vincent laughed as Karen chased Mike around the house. It reminded him of when he and his wife were young and just starting out life as a couple. The old military housing hadn't been much better than this house, but they were young and it didn't matter. His daughter was conceived in Hawaii after a similar chase around a battered old house. The bucket seemed to be calling to him. Not seeing any reason to resist, Vincent went over to it and grabbed a chicken leg. He had always enjoyed chicken that came out of a bucket. He looked over at the cooler and hoped that there was another beer or two in it. He fished around in the icy water and found one. ------- Chapter 3 Seated in the living room of the Captain's house, Mike was watching the news with an arm around Karen. A story that was receiving very little national attention had just ended. A Muslim from India had terrorism charges against him dropped because it was claimed that the FBI had targeted him on the basis of racial profiling. He had been investigated for wanting to get a truck driver's license for hauling hazardous materials while having stated that he didn't want to learn how to back up the truck. The story didn't mention that the investigation had shown that the man had spent six months in an Indonesian terrorist training camp. Mike shook his head in disgust. Disappointed in the American legal system, he said, "I can't believe that he got away with it." "The judge bought his argument that every student expressed concerns about learning how to back up a truck and that didn't represent just cause for suspecting him of being involved in terrorism," Karen said repeating a crucial line from the news story. "The bastards that flew their airplanes into the pentagon hadn't wanted to learn how to land the plane. What in the hell is the matter with people?" Mike asked. "It is a difficult maneuver. We can't suspect everyone who is a little hesitant about learning it of being a terrorist," Karen said with a smile. "I can if they are a foreigner," Mike said with a snort. "No you can't," Karen said adding a little fuel to the fire. She hoped to get him a little riled up so that later he could take some of that frustration out with her in bed. An hour later her efforts were amply rewarded with a very energetic session in bed. ------- Mike sat down in the cafeteria with some of the analysts working on the terrorism task force. He noticed that the Muslim members of the task force were eating at a separate table. Donald, one of the more outspoken members of the team, said, "Did you hear about Mohammed Abdul?" One of the other men looked up and said, "No. What about him?" "He was caught this morning trying to enter the country through LAX," Donald said. Despite the good news that it represented, Donald didn't look very happy about it. "That's great." Shaking his head, Donald said, "There was a lawyer from the ACLU in line behind him. He's already filed suit for unlawful detainment." Mike did his best not to react. The news that Mohammed Abdul had been arrested was significant. The man was suspected of having planned and executed a recent Embassy bombing that had killed the American Ambassador to Thailand. The idea that he had come to the United States suggested that a major effort was being planned. The others around the table purposefully examined the food on their plates, but each glanced over to the other table. One of them finally asked, "On what grounds?" "Profiling. The lawyer said that the man was not acting in a fashion that should have caused them to investigate the man's credentials," Donald said. Beating Mike to the question, one of the other men asked, "It doesn't matter to the lawyer that the man is a known terrorist?" "The lawyer claims that it is a matter of civil rights. You can't single out someone for special attention because of their nationality, race, or religion. That's the biggest bunch of bullshit that I've ever heard. If we can't... ," Donald answered stopping when one of the other men kicked him under the table in an attempt to get him to shut up. Donald glared at the man and said, "Hey, I'm not saying that all of the rag heads deserve special attention." Donald's comment caused a sudden silence to descend around the table. Remembering the advice of his father-in-law, Mike frowned and turned his attention to his meal. He glanced at one of the nearby tables and noticed that one of the men at the table filled with Chinese had left. Chang was at the table and was staring at Donald. Mike looked over at Donald thinking that the man had just done something very stupid and shook his head. He listened to a much more subdued discussion around the table. No one wanted to say anything that was too inflammatory. By the time lunch was over, it was a given among them that Mohammed Abdul would get off and be allowed to leave the country. Mike agreed with that conclusion, but he didn't make a comment. ------- A few minutes before five, Chang stopped by Mike's cubicle and asked, "Did you hear the news?" "What news?" Mike asked looking up from his computer. Not trusting Chang, he activated the screensaver so that the man wouldn't be able to see what he was working on if he stepped further into the cubicle. He turned to face the door so that he could see Chang. He had to see the man in order to get through his thick Chinese accent. "Donald Jones was suspended today," Chang answered. The expression on his face suggested that he was upset by the news. "Why?" Mike asked not believing Chang was upset at all by the news. He was pretty sure that Chang had sent the man from his table to personnel to complain about Donald's comments. "He made some racists comments in the cafeteria," Chang said watching Mike carefully. "Really?" Chang nodded his head and said, "You should know. You were at the table when he made the comment." "Now that you mention it, maybe he did say something. I wasn't really paying attention," Mike said. He held up one of the reports on his desk without really looking at it and said, "I was thinking about this report." "Well, if you ever hear anyone talking like that, you'd better let personnel know about it. We don't tolerate any of that racist stuff around here," Chang said. "I would hope so. We can't have racists working here," Mike said in a friendly voice. He wasn't sure who the 'we' was in Chang's comment about intolerance, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't the majority of analysts. He felt that they could use a few more people who were suspicious of the activities of foreign-born nationals working within the agency. Nodding his head in agreement, Chang said, "That's right. I imagine that after the hearing, Donald will be fired. It's a shame, too. He was a pretty good analyst." "I guess it is a shame, but it wouldn't surprise me if he was fired," Mike said. He smiled at Chang and said, "At least someone noticed and reported Donald's racist behavior." Having delivered his news, Chang turned and left for his cubicle. Mike watched Chang leave. Despite the fact that Chang never said or did anything to cast doubt on his loyalty, Mike couldn't help feeling that the man was dirty. The briefing that Chang had given concerning his trip to China hadn't been very complete. There were significant omissions in the information that he'd brought back. He'd have to watch his step around Chang very closely. Shaking his head, he turned back to his computer and typed in his password. ------- Mike swore at the lawn mower after another attempt to start it had failed. It was brand new and he couldn't get it started. He grabbed the push bar of the lawnmower with his left hand making sure that he had the safety bar pulled up against it. He reached down and grabbed the starter pull. He yanked back on the pull. The push bar popped out of his left hand thereby releasing the safety bar. He swore, "Shit!" Looking at the assembly, he figured it was time to make some major modifications to the machine. He stomped into the house to get his tools. Karen took one look at his face and asked, "What's the matter?" "I can't start the damned lawnmower," Mike said venting a little of his frustration. "It's brand new," Karen said. She was about to start on a rant about how new items didn't seem to be of much quality. Shaking his head, Mike said, "I can't hold the safety bar while pulling the stupid starter cord. It keeps popping out of my left hand." "Oh," Karen said putting the brakes on her rant. She looked down at the dish towel she held in her hand and tossed it to him. She said, "Tie it down with this." Catching the towel with his good hand, Mike said, "Good idea. I was going to disassemble the damned thing and fix it so that I could use the mower without the safety bar." Karen laughed and said, "My engineer. You're always looking to do things the hard way." Mike grumbled, "I don't even know why they put those damned safety bars on lawnmowers." "Someone tried to use a lawnmower to trim their hedges and lost all of their fingers. They sued the manufacturer of the lawnmower and won the case," Karen answered. The idea that anyone would be that stupid staggered Mike. There was no way that story could be true. He stared at her for a second before he said, "You're kidding me." "Well, that's the story I heard," Karen said. "That's got to be an urban myth," Mike said. "I wouldn't be too sure about that. If someone can win a lawsuit because they spilled hot coffee on themselves because the person who sold them the coffee didn't warn them that it was hot, then anything is possible," Karen replied. Shaking his head in remembrance of that little news item, Mike decided that she might be right. He said, "Well, I better get back out there and mow down that fine crop of weeds that we call a lawn before the neighbors complain." "I wouldn't worry about that. The neighbors are so happy that we bought the place that they aren't going to complain if you don't get the weeds whacked this weekend," Karen said with a smile. ------- Vincent went behind his desk and took a seat in the leather chair. Looking over at Mike, he said, "Congress killed two of my weapons programs this week." "That doesn't sound good," Mike said looking across the study at his father-in-law. He was going to miss the evening discussions with the Captain when he moved to the new house. "It isn't. These were significant projects that could have really helped protect our ships. This is a major setback," Vincent said. One of them was an unmanned drone that could double as an anti- missile missile. It was intended to protect a ship against a Chinese Silkworm Missile. "If they are that significant, why did they kill them?" "You won't believe me when I tell you," Vincent said. He had seen the entire situation unfold and didn't believe it. "What happened?" Mike asked looking concerned. "It seems that the companies that were involved in the program are being sued for not hiring individuals of foreign birth," Vincent said shaking his head. The case hadn't even been resolved in the courts and one of the members of the House of Representatives had decided to make it into a political matter. "Who would sue them?" "It turns out that it was an individual who applied for a job as a janitor at one of the companies. When he didn't get the job, he says he sat outside the company and watched the people going in and out of the building. When he didn't see anyone who wasn't white or black, he contacted an ACLU lawyer," Vincent said. He looked over at Mike and said, "I'm pretty sure that the company was targeted. The other suit followed after the first one under similar circumstances." "What nationality was he?" Mike asked. "He was British until he became an American citizen," Vincent answered. Seeing the look of surprise on Mike's face, he added, "He's Muslim." "Oh," Mike said guessing what was coming next. Vincent nodded his head and said, "He was raised in the same neighborhood where all of the London Bus Bombers came from." "That's bad," Mike said staring at the floor. "There's no proof that he has any terrorist connections," Vincent said with a shrug of his shoulders. "So on the basis of that, some congressman decided to make a big deal out of the matter," Mike said. He really wondered what had happened to common sense. "I should mention that the congressman in question happens to be Muslim," Vincent said. "It sounds to me like there is a huge conspiracy to undermine our ability to protect this country," Mike said knowing as he said it that he sounded a lot like a right-wing radical. The problem was that there was a lot of recruiting going on inside of Mosques. There were over eight million Muslims in the country. All it took was for the terrorists to locate that one person out a thousand who 'believed' and the threat would be huge. With an inner circle of planners, there'd be a lot of coordination of effort going on across the country. Vincent looked at Mike for a full minute. He said, "I don't think you know the half of it. Things are really getting bad. These Muslims are testing the legal system and finding holes in it that they can drive a truck through. They are shaping the domestic battlefield so that we're defenseless when they attack." "I know exactly what you mean," Mike said shaking his head sadly. "They are making it impossible to ask a Muslim any kind of question without it sounding like we are harassing them. They get up and act all funny while praying to Allah before a flight. They are talking in a language that no one knows while boarding a plane. After getting kicked off they sue. They win and now no one will kick any other Muslim off the plane regardless of how they are behaving. As a result, our planes are wide open targets. One of these days, planes will be flying into the Pentagon again. "Another terrorist gets caught trying to get a driver's license and permit to deliver hazardous materials using a truck. He sues saying that the investigation was initiated as a result of racial profiling. All of a sudden, we can't investigate people who are acquiring the means to deliver weapons. One day, one of those bastards is going to drive a chlorine truck right into a mall and kill everyone in it. "Another terrorist is caught entering the country with falsified credentials. He sues that he was unlawfully investigated because he is a Muslim. When he wins his case, we won't be able to stop them from coming in the country. One day, we'll wake up and there will be a thousand of them here." Vincent nodded his head in agreement. He said, "It's even worse than that. They are dismantling the organizations that are supposed to stop them. They are working from within the system. A lot of folks know that is happening, but we're powerless to do anything about it." "What do you mean?" Mike asked. "We live in a world in which the truth has to take a backseat to political correctness. Even if you are right, if you tell the truth in the wrong way you'll be wrong," Vincent answered. "You mean I can't call a shovel a spade," Mike said. "That's right. Watch yourself at work." ------- The weekend found Mike putting up the wallboard in the bathroom with Karen's help. As he nailed in another sheet, he said, "They fired Donald this week." Karen didn't know how to respond. He had been keeping her informed of the actions being taken against Donald. She felt that the man was getting railroaded. She asked, "Was he a good analyst?" "Yes, but that didn't matter at the hearing," Mike answered. Chang had sat in on the hearing as a representative of the minority groups and had informed Mike that Donald was history. Chang was appropriately saddened by the actions they had to take. Of course, Mike didn't believe that for a second. "What are you going to do?" Karen asked. She was worried that Mike was going to say something and lose his job. "Nothing. There's nothing that I can do. Donald was stupid and he lost his job because of it. He knew that he shouldn't say things like that," Mike said. It didn't seem fair to him that one comment could get a man fired, but in the politically correct climate even minor comments weren't tolerated. "Be careful," Karen said. Mike finished attaching the piece of wallboard and stepped back. He said, "You can let go of it now." "Watch out for that Chang character," Karen said knowing how Mike felt about him. She was afraid that one day he'd say something wrong and Chang would have him up in front of the review board. "I might be a Marine, but I understand subtlety," Mike said with a smile. He turned to prepare the next piece of wallboard. "Good," Karen said thinking that Marines didn't exactly have the reputation for subtlety. "You know the thing that bothers me the most about this whole racism thing," Mike said. "What?" "The cafeteria," Mike answered. "What about the cafeteria?" Karen asked puzzled by his answer. "I don't like the way that people sit when they are in the cafeteria. All of the Chinese sit together in a cluster of tables. They talk to each other in Chinese. They eat Chinese food. They read Chinese newspapers. I don't know what they are saying. None of us know what they are saying. Every time I look over at them, Chang is sitting there in the middle of all of his Chinese buddies. For all I know, he could be discussing how to get rid of us one at a time and no one would be the wiser," Mike said. "Wow, it sounds like there is a Chinese mafia at work there," Karen said. Mike shook his head and said, "It's worse than that. The Indians do the same thing. They all sit together and talk in a foreign language. They are busy eating Indian food. There are even a bunch of women that wear their Indian costumes. Some of the men wear those turbans. "The Muslims do the same thing. The women are wearing their scarves or whatever the hell they are called. They even have prayer sessions at work. You get three of them together and they start speaking Arabic. They can be saying all kinds of nasty things about us, but we can't understand them in order to complain." "You're sounding a little paranoid now," Karen said. "You know, I have nothing against people coming to America to create a better life for themselves. I just wish they would start eating our food, talking our language, and socialize with us to integrate into our society. I feel like I'm the fucking foreigner in my own country. I'm supposed to integrate into their society. Fuck that," Mike said with a little more energy than intended. "I know what you mean." "If their way of doing things is all that great, then why in the hell do they want to come here? I'll tell you why. Their countries are shit-holes. I know, I've been there," Mike said. Shaking his head, he added, "They come over here and demand that we do things their way. Why? They want this country to turn into a shit-hole too." "Don't ever say anything like that at work," Karen said looking at her husband with a worried expression on her face. "Don't worry about that. I won't even say something like that where other people can hear me," Mike said. He put an arm around her and said, "You're the only one who gets to see my real feelings." Hugging him back, Karen said, "Good. I know what you mean about them clumping together like that. Now that I think about it, all of the students of foreign nationality all go to lunch together at school. Of course, there's nothing too sinister about a bunch of students getting together over lunch." "I'm not sure of that," Mike said with a frown. He felt at times that the universities were recruiting grounds for the disaffected and dissatisfied. "You're really getting paranoid over this," Karen said looking at Mike with concern. "Maybe I am, but things don't feel right," Mike said. He looked down at his left hand and flexed the fingers that still worked. With a sigh, he said, "I've got that same feeling about this that I had just before I got shot. Some real heavy shit is about to come down on us and we'd better be prepared for it." "Have you talked to my father about this?" Karen asked getting concerned about his feelings. She knew that when he felt something bad was about to happen that he was always right. "Yes." "What does he say?" Mike was quiet for half a minute. Hugging his wife to him, he said, "He agrees with me." ------- Chapter 4 As Tim Brown sat down at the lunch table with Mike, he asked, "Do you like to fish?" Not recognizing the voice, Mike looked up from his plate. He didn't know Tim that well and it took him a second to recall the man's name. In fact, he had only met Tim in a couple of meetings. The man was normally very quiet, but people tended to listen when he spoke. He answered, "Yes, but I don't have the time for it any more. My wife and I are fixing up our house. That kind of keeps us busy all of the time." "You're fixing up a house?" Tim asked in a friendly manner while removing the plates from his tray. He set his tray off to the side and rearranged the plates in front of him. "Yes. It was a mess when we bought it. We stripped the interior and are now putting it back together again," Mike answered thinking that Tim didn't sound that surprised by the fact that he was fixing up his house. He noticed that other people who normally ate with him for lunch were going to another table to eat rather than join him at his table. "Could you use some help? I work cheap. All it will cost you is a beer every other hour or two," Tim said with a grin. He made a gesture as if he were downing a beer before grabbing his fork. "Sure," Mike said with a shrug of his shoulders. He had a feeling that something else was going on besides a discussion about fishing or working on a house. "Great, I'll stop by on Saturday," Tim said. He took a bite out of his lunch and watched Mike while chewing. "Wear some old clothes. The work is still mighty dirty," Mike warned him. Over the weekend they had only gotten about a third of the wallboard up. The panels that went on the ceilings were killers. "I used to work in construction while going through school," Tim said shrugging his shoulders as if to dismiss Mike's concerns. He looked around the cafeteria and paused to watch a table. He said, "Unlike some, I had to work my way through school." Mike glanced in the direction that Tim was looking. Tim was gazing at the table filled with Chinese. Nodding his head, Mike said, "Same here, but I was lucky to have the GI Bill helping me out." "Yes. I spent a little time in the Marines, too. It helped cover some of the costs of going to school," Tim said with a wink. Mike looked at Tim for a second trying to remember if he had ever mentioned that he had been in the Marines. He couldn't recall such a discussion ever taking place. Trying not to react too much, he nodded his head and said, "It helped us buy our house." "Lots of advantages of having served in the military," Tim said. He turned his attention to eating and the conversation died. When he had finished his food, he rose and said, "I'll see you Saturday afternoon." "Right," Mike said. He watched Tim leave realizing that the man hadn't asked for the address of his house. ------- Although it was the middle of the week, Mike swung by the house rather than heading straight home. It was time to mow the yard again and he decided that he'd rather do it after work than to use some of the precious time over the weekend. He pulled the lawnmower out of the garage and tied a piece of rope around the handle so that he could get it started. When he was about to yank the starter cord, the man who lived next door wandered over and said, "Hello, Mike." Dropping the starter cord, Mike said, "Hello, Bob." "It sure is nice to have a neighbor who takes care of the yard for a change," Bob said gesturing to the lawnmower. "Well, it is still mostly weeds. I figure when we move in here, we'll kill off the weeds with some weed killer and re-sod the lawn," Mike said surveying the disaster that had been left behind. "I'd tell you to get some of that weed and feed that I use, but I don't think there's any grass here for it to feed," Bob said with a laugh. He had to use a lot of that to keep the weeds from Mike's yard from encroaching on his lawn. "It is pretty bad, isn't it," Mike said shaking his head sadly. "You can say that again." "We'll get it in shape soon. Just bear with us while we're fixing up the house," Mike said. He knew that the folks in the neighborhood took a bit of pride in their lawns. It was all part of keeping up property values. "Hey, we understand. After that last bunch that lived here, you'd have to be a pretty bad neighbor before we'd complain. You need to get the house in shape to live in before you worry about the yard," Bob said knowing that a nice lawn didn't keep you warm in the winter. "Thanks," Mike said. "The roofers did a great job," Bob said gesturing towards the house. While Mike was willing to take care of the interior of the house, there was no way that he was going to climb up and down ladders with his bad hand. He had hired a roofer to replace the roof of the house and they had done the job over the last week. It was a major improvement to the exterior of the house. The next big job on the exterior of the house was painting it. Mike nodded and said, "They did a good job. I hope they weren't too noisy." "They worked during daylight hours. That was a hell of a lot better than the loud music we used to get at all hours of the night," Bob said. He had called the police about once a week to complain about the noise coming from that house. If it wasn't loud music, it was shouting matches. "I bet," Mike said. "Anyway, the reason I came over was to let you know that an FBI agent was by the house the other day asking about you," Bob said looking around uncomfortably. "I'm not surprised. They're just doing a background investigation for my clearance," Mike said with a smile. He had wondered how long it would be before someone came around asking the neighbors questions. "That's what I figured," Bob said feeling a little relief at the explanation. "I hope you told him all about our orgies and invited him to attend the next one," Mike said with a wink. Laughing at the joke, Bob said, "It completely slipped my mind. I'll be sure to invite the next FBI agent who stops by to join us." ------- At a little after nine in the morning, Tim knocked on the open door of the house and called out, "Hello. I hear that there's some beer here." Mike stuck his head out of the bedroom and shouted to Tim, "Come in. We're putting up wallboard in the bedroom." "I guess that explains the white dust that covers you," Tim said with a chuckle. He looked around the interior of the house with a critical eye. He said, "It looks like you're doing a good job." "We're taking our time. I want to do it right," Mike said without remarking that he found it odd that Tim was able to find his house without ever asking for the address. "Let's get to it," Tim said. He had shown up ready to work. Despite the fact that he had a very different reason for being there, he had spent the week looking forward to the chance to do something constructive. They worked together for the entire afternoon without once talking about work. Tim was a great help in putting the wallboard on the ceiling. With Karen and Tim holding up a panel, it was easy for Mike to nail it into place. True to his word, every hour or so Tim drank a beer. An hour before dinner time, Tim helped pack up the tools. Once the house was straightened up, he looked over at Mike and said, "That was a lot of fun. Would you mind if I came out next Saturday to help?" "I'd appreciate the help," Mike said. The work had gone a lot faster with Karen and Tim holding up the wall board and him nailing. "Great. I'll see you next Saturday," Tim said with a friendly smile. He shook Mike's hand and then left. Standing at the door of their house, Mike and Karen watched Tim drive off. Once the car had turned the corner, Karen looked at Mike and asked, "How well do you know him?" "I've only met him a couple of times before today," Mike answered. The entire day didn't make sense to him. "That was really strange," Karen said. "I know. We didn't even talk about anything other than working on the house," Mike said. Shaking his head, he said, "I really expected him to tell me something important, but the most personal thing he said was to ask for another beer." "I noticed that," Karen said. ------- "It looks like we are going to have a Democrat in the Whitehouse," Karen said looking over at her husband and her father. The two men were drinking a scotch and listening to the news. The polls leading up to the election were not good. The early front runners of the Democratic Party had withdrawn from the race leaving behind a 'peace at any price' candidate to take the Party's nomination. Mike suspected that it was because the smarter candidates had come to the realization that they would be inheriting a mess that didn't have a real solution. He felt that they would rather serve later in their careers than have to reverse themselves on major campaign promises immediately upon being elected. Mike said, "You're probably right." "I'm supposed to be apolitical, but this worries me," Vincent said. As a military officer he was in the terribly difficult position that he was not allowed to publicly express his political opinions. When President Clinton was in office they weren't even allowed to repeat political jokes that involved the President. "We'll be out of Iraq by June of next year," Karen said as if it was a given fact. Her mother, Sally, said, "I remember when we pulled out of Vietnam. That was one of the saddest days of my life." "That whole Vietnam mess was horrible. That is a fine example of where politics got in the way of winning," the Captain said. He swirled his glass before taking a sip of the scotch. Nodding his head, Mike said, "So is Iraq." "Personally, I couldn't give a damn about what happens to the Iraqis after we leave. They didn't step up to the plate and take control of their own country. It's the message that we send to the brave men and women of our military by leaving Iraq that bothers me," Sally said with more than a little venom in her voice. "Down girl," Vincent said with a smile. He earned a mild glare from his wife and withstood it until her ire disappeared. "You're right. I get too emotional about it," Sally said. Her father had been killed in Vietnam and she was more than a little sensitive about the government sacrificing people without the intention of seeing the actions all of the way through to victory. Shaking her head, she said, "Those cowards who won't let our soldiers do their jobs drive me crazy." Mike shrugged his shoulders and said, "I know what you mean. I think the thing that scares me the most is that they'll repeal the Patriot Act, close down our detainment facilities, insist on public criminal trials, and tear apart the few effective intelligence programs that we have. We're going to be defenseless in two years." "That's right," Vincent said. Karen said, "You know that a lot of people feel that the Patriot act has elements that violate the first three amendments of the constitution." "Since when did foreign nationals who are attacking this country get full American civil rights? They aren't citizens, but they have all the rights of a citizen except the right to vote. I really doubt that the founding fathers intended us to allow foreign powers to set up shop in this country for the purposes of making war against it," Mike said. Vincent nodded his head and said, "I agree with you on that, but I think our whole approach is wrong. We should be pursuing the terrorists under the old piracy laws." ------- Mike reread a questionable section of a report on particle beam weapons and marked up one of the paragraphs that bothered him. The Americans had canceled a major research program in particle beam weapons development six months ago and the Chinese had started one at the same time. The principle researcher of the American program had returned to China and was now heading the effort there. He looked at the section about the software development activities going on in support of the research. It was an outsourcing firm in India that was doing the software development for the Chinese. Looking at that part of the report, he said, "That can't be right. It would cost the Chinese more to outsource to India than it would cost them to do it themselves. What in the hell is going on here?" He could hear Chang coming down the hall from the meeting the man had attended. He closed the report and set it aside. Sitting back in his chair, he considered what he had read. It sounded to him like the project was intentionally killed. He had a friend who had worked on the project and decided that it was time to make a call or two. He wanted to find out if the Indian firm had been writing the software for the American project. If so, the Chinese were basically going to steal it. Chang stopped by his office and said, "Dan Whiteman over in Satellite Imagery was just fired." Mike looked over at Chang and said, "I'm not sure who Dan Whiteman is. What happened?" "He went postal on one of the Indians who worked in his area," Chang answered with a smirk. "Wasn't he the guy who was screaming at the Indian about running twenty convenience stores out of his office?" Mike asked recalling a little of the gossip he had heard at lunch. No one had mentioned any blows being delivered; just a lot of yelling. It hardly qualified as going postal. "Yes," Chang said. He studied Mike for a second and said, "Don't tell me that you are on Dan's side." "No. Going postal is always a bad thing," Mike answered holding up both hands as if surrendering. He frowned and asked, "What exactly did Dan do?" "He was yelling at Devras and calling him all kinds of names. He disparaged the man's family and that is very wrong. He stepped over the line and became very abusive," Chang answered. "That is bad," Mike said thinking that he probably called the guy a bastard. Looking curious, he asked, "What happened to Devras?" "What do you mean?" Chang asked suspiciously. "Well, he was running a personal business from his office here. If I remember correctly, we aren't supposed to be running personal businesses from our offices," Mike said. "He was reprimanded," Chang said shaking his head sadly. "That's reasonable," Mike said hoping that his voice didn't convey the outrage that he felt. If the guy had been working for him, he would have been tempted to escort him off the premises by throwing him off the roof. "I think it was fair," Chang said. He shrugged his shoulders and said, "You can't really blame a guy for wanting to get ahead financially." "That's the American way," Mike said barely suppressing the sarcasm in his voice. Chang frowned and said, "You might want to tone down that patriotic talk a bit around the office. We're not supposed to be political here." "Sorry," Mike said trying hard not to get angry. ------- Even though it wasn't an anniversary or birthday, Karen had spent the afternoon setting up a nice dinner. Her parents had gone out to some major social event with foreign dignitaries and they had the house to themselves. Mike entered the dining room and looked at the lobster dinner. Raising an eyebrow, he looked at Karen. She was wearing her slinky black dress that he liked so much. Curious, he asked, "What's the special occasion?" "I'll tell you after diner," she answered with a mysterious smile. "Okay," Mike said holding out a chair for her. She gracefully took her seat and he pushed the chair in a little. He took a seat at the table and poured some wine. Looking across the table at his wife, he said, "I know I don't say it very often, but you are so beautiful." "You say that all of the time," Karen said with a laugh. There was hardly a quiet moment in which he didn't compliment her on her appearance. "It's just that I love you so much that I can't say it enough," Mike said reaching for her hand. Taking it in both of his, he added, "I know there are times when my job seems to get me down and I take it out on you. I just want you to know that I appreciate how you let me rant and rave when it gets too much for me." "You don't take your job out on me. You share your feelings with me," Karen said with a smile. Others might find him stone faced, but she knew the emotional guy beneath the façade. "I'm so lucky to have you in my life," Mike said. "We better eat before the food gets cold," Karen said. "Okay," Mike answered. He looked down at the meal and said, "It looks great." "The real question is how does it taste?" The young couple ate and chatted over the meal. Eating lobster was messy and they were both overdressed for it, but that didn't matter. Clothes could always be taken to the dry cleaner. They were almost done when Mike asked, "How is school?" "I got an F on my last paper," Karen answered with a growl. "What? What happened?" "I had to write about American Foreign Policy of the 1960s. The professor didn't accept my premise that the threat of communism by Russia required the United States to respond in some fashion. He even used my paper as an example of the kind of misguided political thought that dominated the conservatives of the 1960s. He said that the United States could have stood by and done nothing. The Domino Theory was just a hypothesis and there was no evidence to support it. According to him, the end result of being inactive would have been better," Karen said with disgust in her voice. "That seems reasonable. From his perspective, it might have been," Mike said. "What do you mean?" "Well, we'd be a communist country by now. I'm sure that he would have been a major player in the communist party," Mike answered. He knew that there were a lot of people who would have exploded over that comment. They believed that enemies who were treated with civility would stop being enemies. Everyone knew that Hitler and Stalin could have been dissuaded from their hardcore political positions after a few beers down at the local pub. "Right," Karen said. She sighed and said, "I really do think that Daddy is right. There are a bunch of people who would like us to become a socialist country. I keep hearing about how the government owes the people this or that. When did government become a money tit for the lazy?" Shrugging his shoulders, Mike said, "I don't know. I'm becoming convinced that everyone should have to serve two years in the military. At least they would have earned their right to benefits." "What about women?" Karen asked looking at Mike with a smile. "Yes, women too," Mike answered puzzled by the expression on her face. She knew how he felt about women in the military. Not every job required one to be in harm's way and not all women felt the need to be protected from danger. Women were required to serve in the Israeli Military and they didn't seem to have any major problems as a result of that. "How about mothers?" "Mothers?" Mike answered trying to imagine his mother carrying a rifle around. "You know, women who are expecting babies," Karen said with a smile. "Well, I don't know. I haven't given the matter much thought," Mike said wondering why she had never raised the question of motherhood before when they discussed the matter. He was going to have to look up how Israel handled that problem. Frowning, he said, "I guess that they'd have to take a leave of service." "What do you think about babies?" Karen asked. "I think they are small," Mike answered surprised by the question and groping for a reply. Seeing her immediate reaction, he held his hands apart as if he were demonstrating the volume occupied by a typical infant. It was closer to the volume occupied by a kitten. "Small?" she asked surprised by his answer. She had been expecting him to say that he liked or disliked babies. "Well, you know they aren't big," Mike said moving his hands apart. He looked at Karen for a moment wondering about why she was interested in his opinion about babies. She was smiling at him and then nodded her head. The light went off in his head. Not completely sure that he understood the nonverbal exchange, he asked, "Are you telling me you're pregnant?" "Yes, I am," Karen answered with an uncertain smile. Mike leapt up from his chair and went over to her. He lifted her out of her chair and gave her a big hug. He kept repeating, "I love you." "I love you, too," Karen said pleased at his exuberant reaction. She had been a little afraid that he'd be upset. Their house was a long way from being finished. Work wasn't going well. She was having problems at school. There were so many negatives, that she would have understood a less exuberant reaction. Raising his fists into the air and leaning back, he shouted, "I'm going to be a Daddy!" Laughing at his actions, Karen said, "I think there are some people in Japan who didn't hear you." He looked at her with a goofy grin on his face. In a softer voice, he said, "I'm going to be a Daddy." "And I think you are going to be a great Daddy," Karen said with a smile. "This is so great! Do your parents know?" he asked wanting to tell the whole world the good news. "I haven't told them yet," she answered. Grinning, he said, "I want to be there when you tell them. The Captain is going to be so happy. Your mother is going to dance with joy." ------- They had just finished taping the wallboard when Tim stepped back. He knelt down to examine one of the holes where a CAT-5 cable hung out. Looking at the cable, he commented, "I noticed there is an internet café not too far from here." "I don't need one. I've got my own computer and will get cable when I move here," Mike said surprised by the rather odd direction Tim was taking the conversation. "You know that internet cafes have some advantages that home computers with internet connections don't have," Tim said. "Really? Like what?" Mike asked. "Well, it does allow you to visit websites with greater privacy. Even if you know what computer was used, it is very hard to find out who visited a website when the identity of the person sitting at the computer isn't known," Tim said. He knelt down and started cleaning the tools. Looking up at Mike, he asked, "Are we going to get this stuff cleaned up?" "Yes," Mike said squatting down to help. The sudden changes in conversation were suspicious. Despite the fact that he appreciated the help, he felt that Tim's visits were very odd. There was no reason for the man to want to come over and help him with the house. "It looks to me like you'll be able to start painting next weekend," Tim said smiling over at Mike. "I could, but I'm going to get to work on the bathroom first," Mike said. He was getting tired of using the porto-potty that was in the backyard. He had made a mistake in planning and had torn out the fixtures in both bathrooms. That had left them without a functional bathroom. He was pretty sure that the neighbors would be more than happy to see porto-potty gone as well. He said, "Next weekend, I'll install the bathtub." Tim nodded his head and said, "Well, maybe I'll bring a friend over next weekend to help wrestle it into place." "It is definitely a heavy job," Mike said wondering who Tim would bring over. He wondered why someone would want to come over to work on the house of a complete stranger. "Yes, it is," Tim said. Looking over at Mike, he said, "Difficult and unpleasant jobs often require more than one person to get them done to a satisfactory end." "Sure." Pausing significantly, Tim said, "That's why we have Marines. A good team of Marines can over come any difficult task, including wrestling a bathtub in place." "OohRah," Mike said in agreement giving it the standard Marine pronunciation. Tim was telling him something, but he didn't quite know what it was. ------- Chapter 5 Mike stepped out of the office after a slow day and looked around the parking lot trying to remember where he had parked his car. His boss, Dale Dawson, stepped out and stopped beside him. Pointing to the parking lot, he said, "I noticed this morning that I parked right next to your car." "Oh," Mike said. He walked beside his boss towards a far end of the parking lot. Dale said, "Did you know that there are four Internet Cafes between here and your new house?" Mike almost stumbled on hearing the question. He looked over at Dale and answered, "No, I wasn't aware of that." "Yes. There are four of them. One of them is owned by a Chinese gentleman. Nice fellow, but I don't care much for the place. It just doesn't feel very safe to me. I think it is the one nearest here that he owns if memory serves me correctly," Dale said glancing significantly at Mike. "I'll keep that in mind," Mike said looking around. "Do that," Dale said. He looked over at the Indian approaching them and said, "By the way, I understand that congratulations are due. I heard that you're having a baby." "That's right," Mike answered finding the sudden shift in conversation jarring. He noticed the Indian walking behind them. "Are you hoping for a girl or a boy?" "I don't care. I'll be more than happy to raise a boy or a girl," Mike answered. It was true. He'd sit and have little imaginary tea parties with a daughter. He'd throw a ball with a son. "I know what you mean. I've got two kids, a son and a daughter. They're in high school now. The boy is going to graduate this year. He's been accepted for West Point," Dale said with more than a little pride. The Indian dropped back and got into a car. Although there wasn't a ring on Dale's finger, Mike asked, "Did you go to West Point?" "Nope. I am a Marine," Dale answered. He looked around for a second before he said, "We have Marines because they can get the unpleasant jobs done." "OohRah," Mike answered. "Here's your car. See you tomorrow," Dale said walking on to his car. He looked over his shoulder and said, "By the way, did you hear that Donald Jones committed suicide the other night?" Stunned, Mike answered, "No, I didn't." Mike got into his car and buckled up. While starting the car, he decided that he'd keep an eye out for internet cafes on the way home. Two Marines had given him the same message; there had to be something significant there. ------- Leading Mike into his private office at home, Vince gestured to a leather chair and said, "Have a seat, Mike." "Yes, sir," Mike said wondering what his father-in-law wanted to discuss. This wasn't the first time he'd been invited into the study, but it was a rare enough occurrence that he knew they'd be talking about something important. The use of the word, 'sir, ' brought a smile to Vince's face. Waving him off, he said, "Relax. I just wanted to talk to you alone for a bit about work." Mike settled into the leather chair. It was a very comfortable chair that fit in well with the very conservative looking office. Vincent didn't have much, but he always bought quality. The office reflected that dedication to quality. Solid wood furniture, leather chairs, brass lamps, and fine wood bookcases occupied the room. He asked, "Whose work? Yours or mine?" "A little of both," Vincent answered cryptically. "Okay," Mike said not quite sure what to make of that answer. The older man took a seat behind his desk and looked at Mike long and hard. He cleared his throat before he said, "An FBI agent came to my office this morning and asked about you." "I'm not surprised. They are doing some background checks on me. My new neighbor told me that they had been by our house asking about me," Mike said. His Top Secret Clearance had been reactivated after joining the CIA, but there were follow up investigations that would be performed. "This particular individual used to serve on my ship. He's a Marine," Vincent said. He used the present tense in characterizing the agent as a Marine on purpose. Once a Marine, always a Marine was an unofficial motto of the Marines. He wasn't sure what was going on, but felt that his son-in-law could use a head's up about the situation. "A Marine?" Mike asked feeling that he'd been encountering a lot of Marines lately. "Yes. He wanted to know if I thought you were trustworthy," Vincent said. "It was a bit more than the typical FBI background questioning. He asked if I would trust you with my life." Trying to relieve the tension, Mike jokingly said, "I hope you told him no." Vincent chuckled and said, "I told him that I trusted you with my one and only little girl." "Was he satisfied with your answer?" "He knows how much I care about my daughter. Like I said, we served together on my ship," Vincent said. Leaning forward, he asked, "Is there anything going on that I should know about?" Mike frowned and looked around. The curtains to the room were closed. Nodding his head, he answered, "No." Vincent didn't know how to react to the mixed messages that Mike was sending him. Rather than follow up on it, he asked, "How's it going with the house?" "It's going fine. I checked it out for termites before putting up the drywall and the house was clean. You know, those termites are sneaky little things. They come up from the ground and attack the wood. You never know they are there until you look for them," Mike answered. Vincent's eyebrows rose when he realized what Mike was saying. He said, "Thanks for reminding me. We have a service that comes out once a year. They spray the basement to help keep out spiders. While they are here, they inspect for termite damage. You might consider hiring a service to do the same thing for your house." "I planned on it," Mike said. ------- Karen and Mike drove up to their house ready for another day of hard work. They were surprised to find two cars already parked in front of the house. Mike said, "I guess Tim and his friend are here already." "It looks like it," Karen said noticing that the door of the house was already open. She was pretty sure that she had locked it before leaving the other night. She frowned at the idea that Tim and some stranger invited themselves into the house. She growled and said, "What are they doing in our house?" Hearing the anger in her voice, Mike turned to Karen. In a serious voice, he said, "Don't make an issue out of it." "I don't like it that they went in without us being there," Karen said. "Please, don't make an issue out of it," Mike repeated. Surprised by his attitude, Karen turned to argue. The serious expression on his face brought her up short. Frowning, she asked, "What's going on?" "I don't know, but I'm not going to do anything that could create a problem," he answered gesturing towards the house. He added, "They are Marines. Remember our motto, Semper Fi." Karen knew that Semper Fidelis meant always faithful. It was used to convey that Marines were always faithful to duty and country even after leaving the service. Mike wouldn't use that if he didn't think he could trust them. She nodded her head and said, "I won't make a big deal out of it." The couple entered the house to find Tim and a very large man examining the box containing the bathtub. Looking up at the couple, Tim said, "This is one heavy bastard. I'm not sure that three of us are going to be enough to carry it into the bathroom." The big man kneeling beside Tim laughed and said, "I'll carry it." Tim rose from a squat and said, "Mike, this here gentleman is Jack Lancer. He's my buddy from over at the NSA." Extending a hand, Mike said, "Nice to meet you Jack." "Good to meet you," Jack said with a friendly smile. His firm hand engulfed Mike's hand, but there wasn't enough force in the handshake to hurt. "This is my wife, Karen," Mike said. "It's a real honor to meet you, ma'am. I heard that you are the daughter of Captain Vincent Dougherty," Jack said without saying how he knew that little fact about her. "That's right," Karen said looking at him with suspicion. "I served with him back about twelve years ago. How's he doing?" Jack said. "He's doing well. He's at the Pentagon," Karen answered. It wasn't the first time that someone who knew her relationship to her father had said that he had served with him. It seemed to her that everyone knew her father. "He's a good man," Jack said as if his seal of approval was significant. He looked over at Mike and said, "You've got a good father-in-law." "Yes, I do," Mike said. "We had better get started on that bathroom. It's going to take all day to wrestle this bastard in there," Tim said. ------- Karen and Mike returned home exhausted from fixing up the bathroom. After a quick shower, they joined her parents at the dinner table. After loading their plates with food, Karen said, "Daddy, I met a guy by the name of Jack Lancer today." Vincent sat back in surprise. He whistled and said, "Jack Lancer. Wow is that a blast from the past." "So you know him?" Karen asked surprised by her father's reaction. "Yes. He was stationed aboard my ship and I got to know him a little. I remember picking him up after one of his missions. I've never seen such a beat up bunch of Marines, but they took the hill, metaphorically speaking, thanks to him. He received the Congressional Medal of Honor," Vincent said. He didn't know what their mission had been, but when he'd seen that boat full of shot up men he had known it wasn't a stroll in the park. It was so bad that the boat sank even while they were unloading it. Although he had worked with Jack all day, Mike was impressed by that fact. Smiling at his father-in-law, he said, "I guess that means that you salute him even if you outrank him." "That's right and I'd be proud to do it," Vincent answered with a curt nod of his head. Karen sat back in her chair and looked at Mike. In hind sight, it was good that he had insisted that she not make a scene over them entering the house. She wondered how he had known. Shaking her head, she said, "Semper Fi." Vincent looked at his daughter and asked, "What was that?" "Nothing. I was surrounded by Marines all day. It kind of rubs off on you," Karen said. ------- After church Sunday morning, Mike entered the house alone. Karen had dropped him off before heading out to the hardware store to pick up the tile for the bathroom. They wouldn't get to tiling the bathroom until the next weekend. He went into the bathroom and checked the work they had done the previous day. The bathtub was in place, but they'd have to wait until the tile was down to install the sink and toilet. He went over to the bedroom to get his toolbox. Opening it, he checked out the contents. To his surprise, he found a USB drive sitting atop the tools. He picked it up and examined it. It was just a plain USB drive without any special markings on it. With a frown, he said, "That's odd." He slipped the drive into his pocket and closed the toolbox. While carrying his tools to the bathroom, he considered what he was going to do with the USB drive. It was obvious that Tim or Jack had left it there for him to find. Although curious as to what was on it, he knew that it probably wouldn't be a good idea to run off to a computer right away. He got out the laser level and started laying out the lines for the tile. The laser level made it very easy to perform that task. It took a quarter of the time that he thought it would take to scribe the lines on the wall. He was done well before Karen arrived home. Smiling, he said, "Isn't technology wonderful?" There wasn't much else to do in the bathroom until the next weekend. It would take two days to do the tiling. He left the bathroom and went into the kitchen. That was the second room that required immediate attention. He stood in the middle of the kitchen trying to figure out what needed to be done first. Bathrooms were pretty simple compared to a kitchen. He was still considering what to do when Karen came storming into the house. She threw her purse down on the floor and said, "Damn it!" "What's the matter?" Mike asked knowing that when she got angry she had a tendency to swear. "I'm tired of going to the store and finding that I can't speak to the sales person. I grew up in this country and now I can't go shopping because I don't speak a God Damned foreign language. Why can't they have someone who speaks English working in the store?" Karen said. She was furious. Mike went over to calm her down. He didn't know whether it was normal anger or hormones from her pregnancy. It didn't matter, she was furious and it was up to him to deal with it. Hugging her, he asked, "What happened?" "I'm at the hardware store looking at the tile. I finally catch one of the people who work there to help me. It is some Mexican who can't speak English. After spending five minutes trying to get across that I wanted ten cases of tile, the bastard walks off shouting, 'no comprende.' What in the hell is that? He's working in an American store as a salesperson and he can't fucking speak English," Karen said. She was waving her arms like the conductor of the Boston Pops. "What happened next?" Mike asked afraid to learn the answer. Karen frowned and crossed her arms. She said, "I grab another salesman who can't speak English. He says, 'no comprende' and walks off. I'm furious by this time. I walk around the store and find one person who can speak English. There's a line of twenty people waiting for him. The poor bastard is overwhelmed by a line of pissed off customers and four fucking Mexicans are standing around with their thumbs stuck up their asses laughing at him." "That sucks," Mike said hoping that by agreeing with her that she'd calm down a little. "I go to find the manager and he's a fucking Mexican. The smug bastard tells me that I should learn Spanish," Karen shouted. Mike hugged his wife and said, "Calm down. We'll find another place to buy our supplies." "This is wrong. This is my country and I can't even go to the store to buy things any more. This is Virginia, not Mexico. Why should I have to learn Spanish?" Karen asked with tears threatening to replace her anger. There was a very real sense of frustration in her question. Mike wasn't about to tell her that she needed to learn four languages to function in her own country. It seemed like you had to know Hindi, Chinese, Spanish, and Arabic to get by anymore. He said, "Calm down. It's okay." "There's something seriously wrong in this country," Karen said. She looked at Mike and said, "I think you're right. Something horrible is headed this way and we had better be ready for it." ------- Sanjay entered Mike's office with a sheet of paper in his hand. Clearing his throat, he said, "Excuse me for interrupting, but something rather unusual crossed my desk. It is my belief that you would want to know about it." Looking up, Mike asked, "What is it?" "A German company has ordered some very large capacitors. I don't know what capacitors of that size would be used for so I thought you might have an idea," Sanjay said. He handed Mike the piece of paper and said, "All of the details are written down upon this paper." Mike glanced down at the paper and shook his head. Sanjay was right to be suspicious; there was something odd about the order. He said, "Thanks. You're right that this is odd. I don't know what it means, but I'll follow up on it." "Good, I knew I could come to you," Sanjay said. He looked around for a second and then said, "I am very distressed about the news I heard concerning Donald Jones. I liked him. He was very honest." "I didn't know you knew him," Mike said. "There are many bad men around here, but Donald was one of the good men. I might not have always liked what he said, but I knew where he stood on important issues," Sanjay said. He frowned and said, "We had many discussions of the matter." "I didn't really have a chance to know him," Mike said rather surprised by what Sanjay was saying. He didn't really trust Sanjay although the man hadn't done anything to deserve his distrust. Sanjay stuck his head out of the office door and looked around. Leaning over to Mike, he whispered, "I think he was killed." Surprised, Mike asked, "Why?" "He had just gotten a very good job working for an independent consulting company. He had no reason to kill himself," Sanjay said. "How do you know that?" Mike asked. "Our families used to get together every other week for steaks grilled over our barbecues," Sanjay answered. "I thought you were a Hindu," Mike said surprised by the revelation that Sanjay ate beef. His opinion of Sanjay was getting better by the minute. Wobbling his head from side to side, Sanjay answered, "I am. I went to university in Atlanta and my roommate was a redneck. He told me that I had to start acting like an American if I wanted to be successful. He introduced me to the pleasures of barbecue. It was hard to eat beef the first time, but I found after a while that I like it." "I'm surprised," Mike said. "So was Donald," Sanjay said. Looking down at the floor, he added, "I'm going to miss our evenings together." After Sanjay left, Mike sat back in his chair wondering about Donald Jones. The story that had circulated through the office was that Donald had killed himself, but he had never believed the story. Donald might have been stupid, but he wasn't crazy. The offense that had gotten him fired had been too trivial. Sanjay's story only confirmed what he believed. ------- Mike stopped at the Internet Café near his new house. The owner was a rather undistinguished looking man seated in a chair behind the counter. The man took one look at Mike and gestured him over to the front counter. When Mike stepped up to the counter, he could see the man had a tattoo with a huge bulldog standing over the initials U.S.M.C. The man said, "I've been expecting you, sir. That machine in the corner is free. You'll have a lot of privacy there." "Thanks," Mike said not entirely surprised that he had been expected. He made his way over to the corner machine and dug the USB drive out of his pocket. He plugged it in. After opening the drive, he found there was one file titled click me. A minute later he was looking at a website. The front page of the website had the title, "Semper Fidelis." Under the title was a caption that said, "Serving our country in a time of need." In the middle of the page was a link with the simple words, 'Answer The Call.' Wondering what he was going to find, he clicked on the link. With wide eyes he read, "Congratulations. You have been invited to have unrestricted access to the largest collection of intelligence material and analyst reports concerning threats to the United States of America in existence. The price of access to this website is that you are required to protect the United States from those who mean it harm. If you agree to these terms, click on accept. If you do not agree to these terms, click on reject. Should you reject this offer, all records of this invitation will be destroyed and future access will be denied." Mike sat back in his chair staring at the screen trying to decide how to answer. A moment of thought convinced him that there was only one answer that made sense. If it was illegal, then he'd have to answer that he accepted so that he would have access in order to report it. If it was legitimate, he didn't have anything to lose. He moved the mouse over the accept button and clicked. Immediately a new screen appeared that identified him as CIA023. He had to assume from the user name assigned him that he was the twenty-third agent from the CIA to be granted access to that site. He was asked to provide a password for future access. The basic layout of the webpage was simple. Arranged in three columns was a list of topic areas that he could examine. One of the topic areas that immediately caught his eye was the list of known double agents. Thinking about what he had observed within the CIA, he clicked the link. The page that following the link produced was titled, "Known Double Agents by Agency." Stunned he stared at the list of names presented on the page. Every government agency that he could think of was represented on that page. Even the Department of Agriculture was listed with four double agents identified under it. He scrolled down to the listing for the CIA. He was staggered by the number of individuals who appeared in that list. He was not entirely surprised when he found a listing for Peter Chang. He clicked on the link by the name and a fact sheet on Chang appeared. Open mouthed he read the background on Chang. The man was a middle level operator in the Chinese Ministry of State Security; the Chinese version of the CIA. He read the footnote that Chang occasionally served as an assassin. One of the deaths attributed to Chang was that of Donald Jones along with three other former intelligence agents. According to the story, Donald Jones had been collecting information on the Muslim Brotherhood as an outside activity and had been caught. The Chinese Government had agreed to take care of the matter in exchange for a hundred million dollars worth of oil. The oil was delivered through all twelve of the OPEC nations. He returned to the previous page and read the rest of the names of agents within the CIA. None of the names there surprised him. He noticed that three of the five people who sat on the tribunal that had dismissed Donald Jones were on the list. He had suspected as much. He wasn't surprised to find that Sanjay's name did not appear on the list. He did notice that the affiliation for all of the Muslims was under a common heading, the Muslim Brotherhood. Clicking on the link brought up a page that described the organization. Expecting a short paragraph, he was shocked to see that the table of contents was huge. A chill went down his spine when he looked over the section headings. He clicked on the executive summary and read it. The upshot of the overview was that there were two faces to the Muslim Brotherhood. The public face was that it was a world-wide Sufi- Sunni Islamist movement founded back in 1932 in response to the westerners living in Cairo. The secret face was that it wasn't a Sunni or a Shiite organization, but a pure Sufi Muslim Organization. The Sufi isn't a separate branch of Islam, but spans both Sunni and Shiite sects. Reading further, he saw that they had plans on how to allocate the world among the different Islamic factions. According to the summary, every major Muslim terrorist organization was actually a chapter of the Muslim Brotherhood. The public differences between the terrorist organizations were established as a means of recruiting different groups of individuals to serve the overall purpose of destroying the west and returning to a Muslim controlled world. Disturbed by what he had read, he went back to the page of known double agents. Under the Department of Energy was another name that he recognized. He clicked on it and read the biography for the man. The man was a high level director in charge of high energy weapon development while being affiliated with the Chinese government. The comment was that he wasn't very effective since almost every project he had started had been canceled. The individual who had written the article assumed that it was an intentional act to keep the American program behind the Chinese. All of the evidence that Mike had been accumulating suddenly made sense. The director had been initiating research projects for the past eight years. In each case, the principle investigator was a former Chinese national. Whenever one of the projects was close to a breakthrough, the project was canceled and restarted in China. The man wasn't keeping the American Programs behind the Chinese. He was using American taxpayer money to fund the Chinese research. ------- Mike was lost in the web pages when the screen suddenly flickered and showed two women having sex with each other. Surprised, he looked up and found a rather embarrassed young woman standing beside him. She said, "Excuse me, sir. If you're going to use this place for so long, you need to order something." "I'll have a coffee," Mike said still staring at the screen. He looked away from the screen and watched the young woman walk off. When he turned back, the lesbian picture was gone and the page he had been reading had returned. He was impressed by that feature. He waited for the young woman to return with his coffee knowing that he was going to get a reputation as a dirty old man. That was better than getting caught with what was clearly illegal access to intelligence data. He thought about how Chang would react catching him here looking at porn. The man would use that to try and control him. If he found him reading the intelligence date, Chang would try to kill him. ------- It was late when Mike returned home. Karen met him at the door with a worried expression on her face. Before he had even closed the door, she asked, "Where were you?" "I had to do a little work," Mike said in a quiet voice. He stepped around his wife still lost in his thoughts. The time spent at the computer had been a major revelation. He had found an article by FBI011 that provided background information on foreign scientists working in the United States. It was a very disturbing report. "What kind of work?" "Protecting the country kind of work," Mike answered. It was a common phrase in that house. Karen's father used that phrase when his wife started asking questions about topics that he couldn't discuss. Nodding her head, Karen said, "I understand. Just warn me next time." "Thanks. I really can't talk about it," Mike said. "Have you eaten?" "No," Mike answered. He looked down at himself. He had stopped at the Internet Café on the way home from work and was still wearing his business casual attire. He added, "I better change into something a little more comfortable." "Good idea. I'll warm up a plate for you while you're changing," Karen said. "Thanks," Mike said heading down the hallway. Karen watched him go with a worried expression on her face. Mike hadn't even kissed her on arriving home. She'd never seen him look so distracted. She'd seen her father come home at times with a similar expression on his face. Usually that meant something pretty bad was about to happen. The last time she'd seen her father with that expression, there had been a war start within twenty-four hours. Mike returned to the living room after twenty minutes. Karen was waiting for him and said, "I've got your dinner in the dining room." "Thanks, you're an angel," Mike said. He went over to her and gave her a kiss. "It's about time you remembered to do that," Karen said with a smile. She decided that tonight she might want to wear her French Maid costume to take his mind off his problems. She tried to remember if there was a feather duster in the house. ------- Chapter 6 At the office, Mike read through the reports picking out items that caught his interest. With what he had learned the previous night, he discovered a whole new interpretation for the information in the reports. Turning to the computer, he started writing an analysis of the four reports that were on his desk. He was actually working on two versions. In the first, he included only facts that were available in the four reports. In the second, the major gaps were filled in with what he had learned the previous evening. Working diligently, he finished the first report in four hours. The second one would take him several days. Using the standard commands on his computer for archiving classified documents, he submitted them into the document control system. There was a small modification in the system that hid the second version of the document when the name was prefaced with CIA023. He had just about finished up for the day when Chang stopped by his office. Looking concerned, Chang said, "I read your report on the Chinese High Energy Weapons Initiative. Are you sure that they are ahead of us?" "I'm pretty sure. It looks to me like they are working in areas where we've stopped a few programs. I'm not sure if they are making progress or wasting time, but they are learning things that we are not. I'd say that it puts them right up there with us," Mike said. "I read that report and thought that we stopped our programs because they weren't feasible. That would suggest to me that they are blindly following work that hasn't panned out here," Chang said. Nodding his head, Mike said, "You might be right. Is there any chance of getting inside their labs and seeing how they are progressing?" "I might be able to go there and check with some of my contacts in their research program," Chang said. "That would be outstanding," Mike said looking over at Chang. He knew that Chang was looking for any excuse to return to China for a while. According to the bio he had read, Chang wanted nothing more than to visit his wife and family who were still living in China. Of course, Chang had a wife and kids here too. "I'll mention it to Dale," Chang said pleased that Mike hadn't uncovered anything of much significance. He asked, "What will you be working on next?" "I'm going to examine the Russian program," Mike said. "Now that is a waste of time," Chang said with a snort. The Chinese had examined that program and felt the Americans were well ahead of the Russians. "We've got to produce a quarterly and annual report on the Russians, the Chinese, the Germans, and the French. It might be a waste of time, but ours is to do or die, not to question why," Mike answered. Chang looked at Mike with a puzzled expression. He asked, "What does that mean?" "What?" "That thing about doing or dieing," Chang answered wondering if it was a threat of some kind. "I just butchered a line from a rather famous poem," Mike said. "So what does it mean?" "It means that we have a job to do so we do it," Mike answered. Shaking his head, Chang walked away saying, "I hate American poetry. No one can understand it." When Chang was well out of hearing range, Mike chuckled and said, "I wonder how Lord Tennyson would feel about being called an American poet." ------- Vincent looked at his son-in-law and said, "So you've fixed up the house enough to move into it." "That's right," Mike said. The weekends spent fixing up the house had paid off and three rooms were ready for occupancy. They had a working bathroom, a fully functional kitchen, and a bedroom. The rest of the house was coming along and could be finished with just a little more work. The remaining rooms needed painting, carpets, and fixtures. "You can stay here until it is finished," Vincent said repeating an offer that he had made every other day. He didn't mind having Mike and Karen living with them despite Karen's occasional mood swings as a result of her pregnancy. "I do appreciate the offer, Captain. I figure if I'm living there then I can finish the house in half of the time. It is not that we are in a race against time, but I'd like to get the house finished and decorated before the baby is born," Mike said giving his standard answer to the offer. Vincent decided to try another tactic to get them to stay. He asked, "Are you sure that you want to live in an unfinished house with a moody pregnant woman?" Mike laughed at the memory of his wife's overly emotional reaction at the hardware store and said, "Now that is a good question." "I wondered if you thought about that," Vincent said with a chuckle. "I'm not worried about that. I love her. I'll put up with a few mood swings with pleasure. She's pregnant and that's to be expected. After all, it means that I'm going to be a daddy," Mike said. He couldn't wait for the day when his child came running to him calling him daddy. Vincent was pleased to hear Mike discuss his feelings towards his daughter in that manner. He'd seen a lot of men who had fled upon hearing that their wife was pregnant. He'd seen a lot of men cheat on their wives while she was at home feeling unwanted, unloved, and unlovable. It was a pleasure to see a man who embraced his pregnant wife and the future she represented. Feeling a deep sense of satisfaction that his daughter's future was in good hands, Vincent said, "I was away from home a lot when I was serving shipboard. The whole time I was at sea I would think about how I was protecting my family from people who meant us harm. My family was never far from my thoughts. The moments I looked forward to the most was getting home. Finding my wife and daughter at the dock waiting for me to arrive was special." "I know what you mean," Mike said nodding his head. He had memories of returning home to Karen. "I guess you are going to move out and there's no way I can convince you to stay here," Vincent said. "That's right." "I'm going to miss our conversations at night," Vincent said meaning it. "Same here, Captain." ------- It took several weeks, but they finally got enough of the living room done to support a television and a couple of chairs. They were just in time to watch the National Elections. Dismayed, Mike stared at the early results being broadcast. Shaking his head, he said, "The cut and run candidates have won." "The American people have spoken," Karen said with a sad nod of her head. "They want us out of Iraq no matter what," Mike said. It wasn't that he wanted war or for the troops to continuously put themselves in harms way. He wanted to win the war. "The Liberals have a point. The Iraqis didn't step up to the plate and take control of their country. The government had too many factions to be successful," Karen said repeating what the talking head had just explained on the cable news program. "Do as we say, not as we do," Mike said with a snort of disdain. "What do you mean?" Karen asked. Mike answered, "Of course they had factions there. We have factions here. Our country couldn't unify behind our efforts in Iraq since the day we crossed the border. What in the hell were the Iraqi leaders supposed to do? Every one of them knew that if they threw their future in with us and then we left before the mission was complete, they'd be dead in three days. "There was no way that they were going to support us with all of our bellyaching about our involvement there. All of the terrorist organizations have been claiming that America doesn't have the stamina to see the mission through to the end. So what happens? Every day we broadcast to the world that we shouldn't be there. Our congressmen start trying to pass laws trying to force us to leave Iraq on a timetable. We've acted in a way that supports everything the terrorist organizations have said. "So what do the Iraqi leaders do? They do the smart thing and try to appease everyone so that they can survive in case worse comes to worse. They don't use force against the stronger radical elements knowing that their powerbase evaporates the minute we're gone. They don't investigate things in the hope that their lack of action convinces the terrorist leaders that they aren't too pro-American. They are protecting their asses. "In the meantime, the President has been telling them to get serious about ruling their country the way it should be done and the fact is that they don't know how. Our military has been trying to get control over a population that has been infiltrated by terrorists from all over the Middle East. Our Congress has been undermining the strategy by telling the Iraqis the one thing they don't want to hear. "Now the shit has hit the fan. This election has proven that the terrorists were correct. The one thing that every Iraqi politician has feared has come true. We're going to leave them hanging," Mike said. "So you're saying that their instability was due to our inability to commit," Karen said. "That's right," Mike said. He looked down at his left hand in disgust. He said, "I gave up the use of two of my fingers because our President couldn't convince their leaders that he had the support of the American people behind him. Why couldn't he? He couldn't because he didn't have the American people supporting him." "He did at first," Karen said. "No he didn't. Half of Congress never believed that he was the rightfully elected President. They didn't believe the results of first election and they didn't believe the results of the second election. They weren't going to support him in anything that required that they accept his authority to lead this country," Mike said. Mike didn't agree with the President on a lot of issues, but he respected the Office of the President. Too many people allowed their dislike of the man interfere with their respect for the office. He snorted and said, "At least I only lost use of two of my fingers. A lot of folks lost a lot more than that over there." Karen understood his anger. She asked, "What's going to happen now?" "The shit is going to hit the fan in two years," Mike answered with a sigh. He pointed at the television screen. He said, "Look at that. The Iranians are dancing in the street." ------- Mike sat down at the computer at the Internet Café and plugged the USB drive into the machine. Within minutes he was at the website. The first webpage was still the same, but the second web page was personalized with e-mail, notices, and announcements. Mike stared at the announcement trying to figure out what were the full implications of it. The President, within twenty-four hours of the election, had issued a Top Secret Executive Order requiring that all holders of Top Secret Clearances be investigated by the FBI as if they were spies. There were two very interesting caveats to the Executive Order. All investigations were to be performed by individuals who had served in the American Military and no arrests were to be made until all of investigations had been completed. The first point was rather obvious to Mike. The President wanted to make sure that individuals who were naturalized citizens didn't perform the investigations. It was the second point that was the most intriguing. Mike sat back and tried to decipher the significance of the second point. There were three obvious consequences. The first was that it would be years before any arrests were made as a result of that Executive Order. All of the arrests would occur during the term of the next President. The second was that it would allow them to roll up all of the individuals who failed the investigation in one fell swoop. The scale of the investigations led to an obvious conclusion. No one would get off because of Political Correctness. The President wanted to make sure that no one could claim intentional profiling as the cause of the investigation. Mike felt it was the best decision by the President in four years and whispered softly, "Semper Fi." ------- Dale came into Mike's office and said, "We need to talk in the secure conference room. Lock up your documents and meet me there in thirty minutes." "What's up?" Mike asked rather surprised by the need to meet in a secure conference room. Everyone in the area had clearances and access to the same information. If the topic wasn't associated with intelligence material, then the meeting would have been held in Dale's office. "Just be there," Dale said before going down the hallway. Mike could hear Dale telling Chang to meet him in the secure conference room in forty-five minutes. Chang asked all of the same questions that he had and Dale had given the same answers. His curiosity was roused, but he started locking up all of the documents in his area. Mike had to wait outside the conference room while another person was inside talking to Dale. Pacing, he wondered what was going on. One of the other analysts left the conference room and he went inside. Dale looked up at Mike and smiled. He said, "Your clearance has been upgraded to include access to SF compartmented information." "Huh?" Mike said with a frown. He had no idea what SF compartmented information meant. He hoped that it wasn't an X- file type of designation thinking about the television show. The last thing he wanted to see were reports about UFOs. "It is a new category of compartmented information that the President just introduced. Basically it gives you access to information being collected about individuals who are being investigated by domestic intelligence agencies in conjunction with an ongoing CIA investigation. It's all part of that sharing of information between agencies," Mike said. Knowing about the investigations that were being performed by the FBI, the sudden appearance of the clearance made sense. He asked, "Why tell me here rather than in your office?" "The clearance itself is classified and you are the only one here with the need to know. Only twenty-three people in the CIA have been granted it," Dale answered. He looked at Mike for a moment as if to let the significance of the number sink in and then said, "I'm giving out a couple of bogus clearances today as well. I imagine that a few people are going to try to find out if you have a FT clearance. You don't, but don't worry about it. If you should come across a FT marked document, don't trust it." "I understand," Mike said. It was all part of separating out the wheat from the chaff. "Good," Dale said. He reached out a hand and said, "Semper Fi." Mike shook his Dale's hand and replied, "Semper Fi." ------- Later that afternoon, Mike entered a query for rail guns in the raw intel database. Normally, his queries never retrieved any results. However, this time it produced two results. The first was from an agent inside Iran. The second was from an agent stationed in Germany. He opened the one from inside Iran first. Shaking his head, he discovered that Iran had contracted with a German company to build a high energy rail gun. He read the little bit of information available and shook his head. According to the report, the rail gun was going to be a monster. After the Iraq WMD debacle, the last thing that an analyst wanted to have handed him was information about a covert weapons development program in a Middle Eastern country. Even if the analysis was correct, the necessary level of proof to convince anyone that it represented a threat was extremely high. He would have to have a cable news channel broadcasting the weapon in action before anyone would believe him. Slumping in his chair, he said, "Oh, fuck." Chang stuck his head in the office and asked, "What's the matter?" "Iran hired a German company to build a rail gun," Mike answered shaking his head. This little piece of news fit in with the report about the German company ordering very large capacitors. Chang laughed at the look of misery on Mike's face and said, "Lots of luck with that one." "Right," Mike said staring at the screen. He listened to Chang laughing all of the way to his cubicle. Grabbing a pencil, he started taking notes on what information he would need to verify that the project was going forward. ------- Sitting in the miserable Washington area traffic, Mike listened to the new President discuss his plans for the next year. He listened as the man described how he was setting up a task force to investigate the CIA in order to discover how the previous President had strong-armed them into giving such faulty intelligence about the WMDs in Iraq. Shaking his head, Mike said, "I can tell this job is going to get more fun by the day." A car cut in front of him and he narrowly avoided an accident. Swearing, he turned his attention to the traffic. When things had calmed down a bit, he heard the news that he had dreaded for months. The President said, "We'll be out of Iraq by June." Shaking his head, Mike said, "I wonder if that means that things are really going to heat up in Iraq or calm down. What am I saying? It's going to be quiet until the day we leave and then that whole country will explode." He listened to the rest of the news with a sick stomach. The Majority Leader of the Senate was on the news next vowing to support the new President in all of his initiatives. In fact, he was going to form a committee to investigate repealing the Patriot Act. Mike shook his head and said, "The next thing he's going to say is that he is going to ask the President to shut down our other intelligence operations." Mike was wrong. The next item concerned closing down the secure detainment facilities that were used to imprison suspected terrorists. Shaking his head, Mike said, "It just gets worse and worse." ------- Mike sat down in his office and stared at the computer screen. Someone had managed to photograph the plans for the Iranian rail gun. The picture wasn't very clear, but he could make out enough details to support an analysis based on physics. There were some scratches that looked like notes made in pencil that were barely visible. He flagged the image for photo-enhancement. Grabbing a pencil, Mike started working out the maximum probable load that the rail gun could launch. The spacing of the rails suggested that the payload would have a diameter about the size of a can of cola. It was a pretty small payload considering the rest of the design. The power supply that was indicated was huge. Mike frowned and examined the drawing again. It was definitely a rail gun. There were two rails connected to a power supply. When a metallic object was placed across the rails, the object would be accelerated as a result of the magnetic fields generated by the current flowing through it. The velocities that could be achieved were huge compared to the limits of explosive based guns. The key problems with a rail gun was providing enough current and protecting the rail. The rail gun that Mike built during his doctorial research was a very small one. It launched a five gram payload (a little lighter than the bullet of a 9mm pistol) at velocities about three times that achievable by a rifle. The first advance was that it had a very high firing rate. He had used a novel rail design that allowed the rail to be refurbished even during operation. The second advance was in the design of his compulsator power supply driven by a diesel engine. As a result, his rail gun was able to maintain a high rate of fire for almost five minutes before the rails were damaged beyond repair. After four hours of work, Mike sat back and stared at the answers he had gotten for the Iranian rail gun. Despite the huge capacitor- based power supply, it was actually a pretty small rail gun. Based on his best estimate, the Iranian rail gun would be able to launch a half kilogram load less than two hundred kilometers. He knew that the system under development at Dahlgren would launch a two and a half kilogram payload the same distance. That kind of payload would be as destructive as a Tomahawk missile and would arrive on target in seventy-five percent of the time required for the missile to make the same trip. With GPS guidance, that kind of destructive ability would make it a very effective weapon for a battleship. Confused, he asked, "Why would anyone build a gun with a power supply that size to launch such a pitiful payload?" He turned to his computer and made queries about the capacitors that the German company had bought. They were consistent with those specified in the power supply. Reading the specifications from the blueprints, he put in a request to locate the company, if there was one, which had been contracted to build the rails. He glanced at the clock and realized it was getting late. He put the materials in his file cabinet; double checking to make sure that he hadn't missed anything before locking it. Convinced that everything was in the file cabinet, he shut it and spun the dial five times. He logged off his computer and stood to leave. He paused before leaving and looked at the file cabinet. He asked, "Why would they want to launch a half kilogram payload the size of a soda can two hundred kilometers?" ------- Chapter 7 Karen waddled into the room feeling very large. Even worse, she felt that was very ugly and that there was no way that Mike could possibly be interested in her. She was about to complain when Mike said, "You are so beautiful. Come here and sit on my lap." "Oh come on," Karen said not wanting to hear how beautiful she looked. She wanted to gripe about being fat and ugly. "Please come here and sit on my lap. I want to run my hand over your belly and feel little Mike or baby Karen moving around in there," Mike said patting his lap. Snorting in disbelief, Karen went over to him and sat on his lap. She said, "I don't see how you can stand to have me sitting on you. I weigh a ton." "No, you don't," Mike said running a hand over her belly. The baby kicked his hand. Smiling upon feeling the sensation of life within her belly, Mike said, "I felt that one." "The baby is active today," Karen said with a smile. She decided that she could use a little positive attention from her husband. "How's your back?" Mike asked. He heard that a lot of women complained of back pains while pregnant because of the poor distribution of weight. That was particularly true during the final month of pregnancy. "It's okay," Karen answered. Kissing her on the neck, he said, "I got a gift certificate for you at the Spa down the street for a half of a day of pampering." "You didn't?" Karen asked surprised at his thoughtfulness. "I did. I don't want you feeling bad for even a minute," Mike said. Karen burst into tears and hugged him. Sobbing, she said, "You're too good to me." "Well, I wanted to get you the full day package, but they said that they wouldn't do the full hair styling. The woman there said that the stuff they use to color hair wasn't really good for pregnant women. So I got you the half day package. It is a massage, hair cut, manicure, pedicure, and lunch. I hope you enjoy it," Mike said. "I'll enjoy it," Karen said unable to believe that he had done that for her. ------- Dale stepped into Mike's office and said, "I saw that you requested someone to check out some manufacturers. What's up?" "I'm not sure," Mike answered. He frowned and added, "I know that the Iranians have contracted with a German company to have a rail gun built for them. The problem is that it doesn't add up. As far as I can tell, it is designed to launch soda cans less than two hundred kilometers." "Soda cans?" Dale asked with a laugh. "I'm serious. I picked up a soda can the other day and checked it out. It's what the rail gun is designed to shoot," Mike said. Dale shook his head and asked, "What would happen if you launched a soda can?" "It would never reach the target. The heat generated would boil the liquid inside and it would explode," Mike answered. "So what if it was solid metal?" "It would weight too much. It would launch, but its range would be about ten kilometers and would destroy the rails with each launch. That wouldn't add much to their military capability," Mike answered. Dale sat down in the chair and thought about the problem for a minute. He looked up and said, "I suppose a light-weight powder would probably make a pretty impressive cloud of dust." "I suppose so. Of course, the powder itself could act like a solid on impact. Then it wouldn't be very impressive at all," Mike said. "What would it take to establish what would happen?" Dale asked. "I'd like to build one and see what it can do," Mike answered. He grinned and asked, "Any chance you'd let me spend a couple of months in a lab?" Laughing, Dale said, "I'm afraid that isn't possible. We could get someone to build it for you." "Let's do it. I'd like to see what kind of payload it could deliver," Mike said. ------- Karen spent Saturday afternoon at the spa while Mike worked around the house. He didn't have much to do to finish the living room and he spent the time well. By the time Karen returned home, all of the fixtures were in place and Mike was taking a well deserved break. She entered the house and looked around. Mike had put the money he saved by doing the work himself into getting better quality materials. The switch plates were brass rather than plastic. It was the little details that showed his attention to quality. Smiling, she said, "This room is finished." "Yes it is," Mike said rising from his seat to let her sit in it since it was the most comfortable chair in the house. Looking over at his wife, he said, "You look relaxed." "I am. That was so great," Karen said. Taking an entire afternoon off to be pampered was heavenly. Wanting to thank him for his thoughtfulness, she added, "If you'll come in the bedroom with me, I'll give you a proper thank you." He did, she did, and a great time was had by all. ------- Mike sat down in the main room of the Headquarters Auditorium and waited for the President to arrive. This was the President's first major speech in front of the CIA. It was unusual in the sense that it was targeted at the Intelligence Analysts rather than the upper levels of management. For some reason that no one had explained to Mike, he was one of people chosen to attend the speech. He wasn't sure if it was an honor or drudge work given to the new guy. It was his first time to visit the dome shaped building and he thought it was impressive. It seated 470 people although elbow room was a little limited. He assumed that people were smaller in the 1950s. Another analyst sat down beside him and noticed him checking out the building. He asked, "Is this your first time in the bubble?" "The bubble?" Mike asked. The man laughed and said, "This building is usually referred to as the bubble." "Oh. I guess my ignorance answers your question," Mike said with a shrug of his shoulders. "The building may be fifty years old, but it is state of the art," the man said. He looked up at the front of the room and said, "It looks like they are about to start." "Right," Mike said looking at the front of the room in time to see the current Director walk to the podium. The seal on the podium was the presidential seal. The Director tapped the microphone and then said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, the President of the United States of America." Surprised by the rather abrupt introduction, Mike watched the Director walk over to a chair near the podium. He looked back at the podium in time to see the President step up to the microphone. Mike wasn't sure if he was supposed to stand, clap, or just sit there. Without preamble, the President said, "The invasion of Iraq was initiated on faulty recommendations from this agency. As Intelligence Analysts, your job is to provide the President with accurate security assessments. You failed your mission. You failed the former President. "I am taking steps to assure that you don't fail me. I am replacing the current Director of the CIA with someone whose judgment I trust. I will be announcing his replacement on television tonight. Her first job will be to review the current procedures that you follow in arriving at an assessment and to redefine those procedures so that you won't make the same mistakes as in the past. "Let me tell you one thing; you people have not been held responsible for your mistakes. That's going to change. You will be responsible for the quality of your security assessments. If you aren't a hundred percent correct, you will be fired. Your boss will also be fired. If it is really bad, people further up the chain will be fired as well." Mike crossed his arms and thought, 'I won't be submitting any work anytime soon. There's no way I can guarantee one hundred percent correctness of my assessments.' The President continued, "This agency has been a disgrace to this country ever since it was founded. Throughout my career as a politician every international scandal has involved the CIA. That ends today. I will allow the extradition of any CIA agent charged of any international crime by the International Court of Justice in The Hague so that they can stand trial for their crimes." The guy seated next to Mike stood up and said, "Fuck this. I'm out of here. I'm not letting enemies of the United States prosecute my friends for bullshit offences." The President glared at the handful of men who left the room. Mike slouched down in his chair hoping that he wouldn't be noticed. As the President resumed his speech, Mike decided that his invitation to hear the President speak had not been an honor. He wondered if the President expected an ovation at the end of his speech. If so, Mike didn't think there would be one. ------- Mike stepped into the maternity section of the hospital and spotted Vincent seated in one of the chairs. Rushing over to the man, Mike asked, "How is she?" "She's doing what all expectant mothers do about this time," Vincent answered with a smile. "What?" Mike asked. "She's cursing you for getting her pregnant." "Oh," Mike said. At first he thought his father-in-law was joking, but then realized the man was serious. Vincent looked around to make sure that Sally wasn't within earshot and then said, "I never knew that my sweet little wife could curse like a sailor until she was giving birth to Karen. It was an amazing stream of obscenities that came out of her mouth that night. Let me tell you, my respect for that woman's vocabulary went up a notch." "Sally?" Mike asked. He couldn't imagine a dirty word coming out of her mouth. "Yes, Sally." "Wow," Mike said. Vincent winked and said, "Karen is in that room over there. You might want to go in and let her know that you're here for her." "Yes, Captain," Mike said even as he was leaving for the room Vincent had pointed out. To the retreating back of Mike, Vincent called out, "Let me know if my sweet little baby girl is as bad as her mother." Mike had just gotten to her bedside when Karen grabbed his hand and squeezed. It wasn't a gentle little squeeze. It wasn't even a firm handshake kind of squeeze. This was one that brought Mike to his knees with tears coming out of his eyes. When the pain passed for her, he pulled his left hand out of hers. Afraid to look at his hand, he asked, "How are you doing?" "You fucking bastard! I hate you! You did this to me," Karen screamed at him. With her eyes wide, her face blotchy, and her mouth in a grimace, she didn't look human. She looked positively frightening. Mike looked at his left hand and then over at her. Torn between staying with her and leaving, he said, "I've got to find a doctor." "You miserable piece of fucking scum, don't you dare leave me here all alone!" Mike said, "I'm sorry, but I've really got to find a doctor." "You're not going anywhere. You did this to me," Karen screamed. She grabbed for his hand as another contraction hit. He pulled it out of her reach just in time. She screamed. When the contraction passed, she shouted, "Fuck this natural childbirth, I want drugs." Mike stayed with his wife through the rest of her labor. It only lasted another three hours, but Mike could have sworn that it was three days. It was an incredibly painful experience for both of them. Once the baby was born, he brushed the hair out of her eyes and said, "I love you." "I love you, too," Karen answered. She wondered why if he loved her so much that he had tried to leave her earlier. She was too tired to argue about it. The nurse brought the baby over to her and laid it in her arms. She said, "It's a boy; eight pounds and eleven ounces." Mike looked down at Karen holding the child with a smile on his face. He said, "Your parents are here. Would you like me to get them for you?" "Yes," Karen answered. She grabbed his right hand and said, "Thanks for staying with me. I didn't mean what I said earlier." "I know," Mike said giving her a kiss. He backed out of the room to find her parents. Vincent and Sally were sitting in the waiting room. Vincent was reading a magazine while Sally was looking around anxiously. Sally spotted Mike and jumped up from her seat. Excited, she asked, "So?" Looking at the pair, Mike said, "It's a boy; eight pounds and eleven ounces." After jumping up and down, she said, "That's great. Can I see her?" "Sure, she's looking forward to seeing you," Mike answered. Even before the words had left his mouth, Sally was off like a shot. He chuckled at seeing her go. Vincent stood up and stretched. Putting down the magazine, he said, "I better try to catch up with her." Turning to Vincent, Mike asked, "Before you go, could you help me find a doctor?" Surprised by the request, Vincent looked over at him with concern. He wondered if there was a complication with the delivery. Worried, he asked, "A doctor? What do you want with a doctor?" Holding up his left hand, Mike said, "I broke my hand." ------- Mike entered the room with a bouquet of flowers in his hand. Smiling at Karen, he said, "I brought you some flowers." "You shouldn't have," Karen said pleased that he had brought her flowers. He handed her the flowers. While she smelled them, he reached into his sling and pulled out a little baseball mitt. Grinning, he said, "I bought a little something for Robert." Looking at the baby-sized baseball mitt, Karen said, "That's so cute." Sally noticed the sling around Mike's neck. Frowning, she asked, "What happened to your hand?" Holding up his left hand, Mike answered, "I had a small accident in the delivery room." Staring at the cast, Karen realized that was why he had tried to leave and find a doctor. She couldn't believe that he had stayed by her the entire time with a broken hand. Covering her mouth with a hand, she said, "I broke it, didn't I?" "I had an accident in the delivery room. That's my story and I'm sticking with it," Mike said with a smile. He didn't see Vincent standing behind him giving him a nod of approval. "I feel horrible," Karen said. "Don't. My hand is useless anyway and you needed me," Mike said putting the baseball mitt back in his sling. He looked over at the basinet and said, "I'm a Daddy now. Dads do things like that for their family. Now, Daddy wants to look at his son, Robert Vincent Bowman." ------- The four men around the table were watching Chang summarize his presentation. Chang said, "The best that I was able to determine during my visit to China was that their high energy research programs are well behind ours. They are spending a lot of time and energy pursuing avenues that we've already dismissed as being non-productive." After pursing his lips in a thoughtful manner, Dale said, "Thank you, Chang. That was very informative." "You're welcome," Chang said giving Dale a little half bow. Straightening up, he asked, "Are there any questions?" Nodding his head, Mike asked, "What about their free-electron laser program?" "They are making progress in that area, but it is slow. The report you shared with me was an accurate assessment," Chang answered. Nodding his head, Mike knew that Chang was lying. Instead of calling him on it, he said, "To tell the truth, I didn't believe it. I thought they were making better progress. I guess your confirmation means that I have to believe it." Chang nodded his head and said, "I knew that you had concerns about that report. I hope I have cleared up your doubts." "Yes, you did. I appreciate it," Mike said. He sat back in his chair wondering what he could do to get real verification of his concerns. He wondered if it was worth it. He had no plans on authoring any reports in the near future. There was no way he could guarantee a hundred percent accuracy. Dale looked around the room and asked, "Are there any more questions about Chang's report?" When no one answered, he said, "That concludes this meeting." No one left the room. After a minute, Sanjay said, "Excuse me, Mr. Dawson, but I have a question to ask of you." Knowing what questions he was likely to get, Dale slumped in his seat and asked, "What?" "Are we to wait until we have one hundred percent confirmation of our security assessments?" Sanjay asked. When Dale didn't answer right away, he added, "I won't even say with one hundred percent certainty that I didn't leave the coffee pot on at home when I left this morning." Shrugging his shoulders, Dale answered, "I don't know how to answer your question. Things are a mess upstairs at the moment. The Director was officially fired this morning. Ms. Margaret Hamilton has been named as Acting Director until she can be confirmed. She has been busy giving interviews." "Fired?" Chang asked. "Yes, fired. He was escorted out of the White House," Dale answered. "What did he do?" Sanjay asked stunned by that announcement. "Apparently he turned in a partial list of the current heads of states as the only one hundred percent accurate security assessment that we were able to give him in this morning's Security Briefing at the White House," Dale answered with more than a little respect in his voice. Edgar Doyle, who never spoke in any meeting that Mike had attended, laughed and said, "I would have loved to have seen the look on the President's face. I bet that bastard was pissed." Everyone turned to look at Edgar in surprise. It even took Dale a second to recover. He said, "You'll see the former Director getting escorted out when you go to lunch. It's been playing on all of the news channels." "I'll see it before then," Edgar said. "You will?" Dale asked. "I'm going to my desk and typing up my resignation. After I hand it to you, I'm going home to drink a beer and watch television. There's no way that I'm working for that asshole," Edgar said. Shaking his head, Dale said, "Don't do that. Give it some time to quiet down." "No. I've got a report due at the end of the week on our assessment of the Iranian Nuclear Program. There's no way that I'm turning that in. I'm not getting fired. I'll go into the private sector and give advice to businesses on the stability of foreign governments," Edgar replied. "We've had over three hundred field agents resign in the past twenty-four hours. Another seventy analysts have resigned. This agency will never survive that," Dale said. There was a pleading tone to his voice. He wondered how they would author a report on the Iranian nuclear program without Edgar taking the lead. "Sorry, Dale. I can't stay here," Edgar said. He looked around the room and said, "I expect that half of you will be fired by the end of the year. Good luck." Mike watched Chang's face during the exchange. He thought it was interesting that Chang looked very worried about the current situation. It made Mike wonder what would happen to Chang if he was fired by the CIA. It was likely that his Chinese bosses wouldn't be too pleased. Holding up his cast, Mike said, "It looks like there won't be anyone to sign my cast soon." "You're staying?" Edgar asked. "Yes," Mike answered. The look of pity Edgar gave him was appreciated. Mike said, "I guess this is as good of a time to announce it as any. My wife had a baby boy last night." ------- Chapter 8 Mike was pleased to see that the website was still up and functional. There was a general announcement on the second page dealing with the current upheaval at the CIA. The first half of the message explained what was going on within the agency. The second half of the message was asking all those members of the website to remain in their positions and to keep as low of a profile as possible. Mike thought that keeping a low profile was good advice. He noticed that there was a marker for changed information on the known double agents. The link was just begging him to follow it. Unable to resist, he clicked on the link. There was a similar marker beside Chang's name. Mike smiled and, as he clicked the link, said, "Let's see how your bosses reacted to the news." One of the areas that were highlighted as recently updated concerned Chang's rank in the Chinese Ministry of State Security. Mike looked over it and saw that Chang had been promoted. It appeared that they approved of how Chang had handled the removal of two CIA agents. The agent responsible for the update was CIA009. Mike wondered if the man was going to stay with the agency. There at the bottom of the page was a link to a transcript of a conversation between Chang and his Washington handler. Mike read the transcript with a smile. It looked to him like the Chinese were trying to figure out if the President was serious. Their advice to Chang was to lie low. He was a little disturbed to see his name in the report. It seemed that the Chinese were suggesting that he be maneuvered into submitting a poor analysis based on false data to see what would happen. The agent responsible for that update was NSA004. He followed that link to see what recent updates NSA004 had made on the page. Looking over the list, it was obvious that the man was tracking the conversations held between double agents and their embassies. Following the link to the embassies, Mike found a list of known agent handlers. It was a much smaller list of individuals and showed the known agents for which each was responsible. He wasn't surprised to find the names of several dozen university professors among the list. He returned back to the main page about Chang and followed the surveillance report on his trip to China. It was rather sketchy on details, but did include that he had spent most of his time with his wife and kids there. There was a mention of several meetings with one of the high level directors in the Chinese Ministry of State Security. There weren't any reports of him meeting with any researchers in the high energy labs. Armed with the new data, Mike updated his page on the Chinese high energy weapons program. The picture that emerged suggested a far broader and more successful program than presented in the official reports. He provided excerpts from Chang's false report concerning the state of research in China. Those excerpts were copied to two places, his assessment of the energy program and Chang's biography. He assumed that it would help CIA009 figure out what Chang was doing while he had been in China. Finished for the evening, Mike logged out and went to the counter as if he was going to pay. It was all part of looking like a regular customer. The man, Joe Dinkins, looked at Mike and said, "John, I've got a package here for you." "Oh," Mike said. The man behind the counter always called him John as a way of establishing plausible deniability that he knew who he was. Joe nodded his head and said, "It's just a little piece of security hardware." Mike accepted the package and left. When he reached home, he went into the third bedroom that he was slowly turning into a study. After closing the door, he unwrapped the package. Inside were a pistol and a license to carry it. The federal carry permit was issued out of an unnamed government agency. ------- It was late one Saturday afternoon when Mike backed his car to the front door and parked it there. It didn't matter to him that he had driven over the yard. It was just a patch of dirt now that the weeds had died off. His car was sagging under the weight of the groceries he was hauling. He had a year's worth of food in the car. After listening to the news the previous night, he and Karen had decided that it was time for them to prepare for the worst. Almost all of the terrorist detainees had been released from Guantánamo. More than two thousand terrorists had been set free overnight and some of them came to the United States to pursue unlawful detainment lawsuits. Mike was sure that they would create lots of chaos in the country before they were captured again. While Mike carried a bag of groceries into the house Karen stood by the door of the third bedroom holding little Robert. The little baby was growing fast. She had a pensive look on her face. As he passed by, she asked, "Did you get enough for a year?" "I think so, but you'll need to check out what I got," Mike said. He'd been to one of those discount warehouse places. The huge quantities that he had purchased did not look all that odd. "Okay," Karen said. Mike entered the room. He had abandoned the idea of a home office and had turned the third bedroom into a storage room. Bare metal shelves lined the walls. The shelves wouldn't remain bare for much longer. In the corner, he had a very large gun safe. It was already filled with enough weapons and ammunition to hold off an attacking army. Karen had not been happy to see the gun safe arrive, but she would have been even less happy to see it leave. As he put the groceries on the shelf, he glanced over at Karen and noticed her stiff stance. Thinking it was due to the situation that had made them decide to stock up on food, he said, "You look a little upset. We discussed this." Karen said, "I take it you didn't listen to the news." "I can't take the news anymore," Mike said. It seemed to him that a day didn't go by in which the situation didn't get worse. "There was a suicide bomber on the New York subway thirty minutes ago," Karen said shaking her head. With a sigh, she said, "We pull out of Iraq because our soldiers are dying from IEDs. Now the bastards are doing it here." "We knew that was going to happen," Mike said with more than a little anger in his voice. "The President is a jerk," Karen said focusing her blame on the most visible figurehead of the peace at any price movement. Shaking his head, Mike said, "He's not the only one. Congress has redefined the terrorists from being irregular armed combatants to criminals. They now fall under the jurisdiction of local police. The courts have embraced that definition." She knew that. Karen sighed and asked, "Can we immigrate to Australia?" "I'm not giving up on this country, yet," Mike said. He looked at her and said, "Semper Fi." Karen looked over at her husband and said, "I'm really scared about what's going on in this country. I could use a little comforting. After we've finished bringing in the groceries, can you spend a little time with me?" "You aren't the only one who needs a little comforting darling. To tell the truth, I'm feeling a little shaky myself." Karen knew that he was saying that to make her feel better. He'd hold her all day and night if that was what it took to make her feel better and she knew that. She'd reward him with a little loving and she knew that he suspected that, but didn't expect it. Smiling, she said, "Okay." ------- Mike knocked on Dale's office door. Hearing the invitation to enter, Mike walked into the office and closed the door behind him. With a sick expression on his face, he said, "We've lost track of the Iranian rail gun." The number of intelligence failures had been rising steadily. With so many agents having resigned, they couldn't keep up with what enemies of the country were doing. Dale shook his head and asked, "Where do you think it went?" "I can't even guess. I still don't know why they built it. Maybe they shipped it to Lebanon. Parts of Israel are within range of the weapon if it is set up in Hezbollah controlled territory," Mike answered making reference to the fact that Iran was a major supporter of Hezbollah. "Is that what you think happened to it?" Dale asked. "That's just a wild assed guess," Mike answered. A rail gun wouldn't leave the tell-tale signature of a rocket. Hezbollah would be able to fire it at Israel without much risk of it being taken out in retaliation. Nodding his head, Dale said, "Write up your best assessment of the situation and we'll forward it to Israel. They should know about it if there's even a chance of it showing up in their backyard." "Right," Mike answered noticing that Dale didn't suggest reporting it within the normal CIA channels. Dale looked over at Mike with a smile and said, "Your report on the Chinese high energy weapons program was a masterpiece." "I should have won a Noble Prize for fiction," Mike said with a snort of disgust. Laughing at the expression on Mike's face, Dale said, "There wasn't any fiction there. It didn't say anything despite weighing a ton. I think you invented new waffle words." "Thank you," Mike said. He had fought with Chang over the lack of details within the report. All argument had ended when Mike had threatened to include Chang as a co-author to the report. "Chang wasn't too pleased with the report. He thought you should have been a little firmer in your assessment that the Chinese were behind us in most areas," Dale said. "I'm sure that he did," Mike said thankful of the warning that the Chinese had planned to announce a major advance in their free- electron laser research right after his report was due. If he ever found out who CIA009 was, he was going to buy the man all the beer he could drink. Dale nodded his head and said, "Be careful." ------- The withdrawal from Iraq meant that forces were redistributed among the various military installations around the world. One consequence of that was that Colonel Robert Bowman was assigned to the Pentagon. Mike was looking forward to having his father in the area. Being a good Marine Officer wife, Louise undertook the effort to relocate with the kind of ease that came from lots of experience. She flew out twice to the Washington, D.C. area to scout the housing market and purchased a house on her third visit. Mike had only been able to visit with her one evening of each of those trips. She finally flew in and spent the night at Mike's home while waiting for her husband to join them. Louise was so enamored with the baby that Mike barely got a chance to talk with her. Colonel Robert Bowman strode out to the luggage area and looked around with eyes that didn't miss much. He spotted Mike and headed over to him knowing that Louise would be there waiting with him. Spotting Louise holding a baby in her hands, Robert winked at Mike and said, "My God woman, I'm gone a year and come back to find that you have a baby in your arms." Louise laughed at the joke and said, "That's right. Say hello to your grandson, Robert Vincent Bowman." Robert looked at the baby and said, "Robert Bowman. Hmm, I rather like that name. It's a good name for a Marine." Turning to face Mike, Robert said, "He's a fine looking boy." "Thanks, Colonel," Mike said with a grin. Robert shook his head and asked, "Are you ever going to stop calling me Colonel?" "Only when you become a General," Mike answered. Robert extended his hand and Mike took it in a handshake. The big man pulled Mike in for a hug and said, "It's good to see you again, Son." "It's good to see you," Mike said. Looking down at the cast, Robert asked, "The last time I saw you, you were wearing a cast on that hand. What happened?" "He says that he had an accident in the delivery room, but I'm convinced that I broke it," Karen said looking at Mike trying to judge his reaction. Robert picked her up in a hug and said, "Little girl, it takes a bit more than a tiny little thing like you to break a Marine's hand. If he says he had an accident, then don't fret about it." "Yes, Colonel," Karen said laughing. "I'd appreciate it if you'd take Robert out of my wife's hands for a minute. Her and I have to greet each other," Robert said winking at his wife. ------- Mike and Karen were seated in the front row of the auditorium at the Pentagon. Sally was seated beside them holding Robert in her lap. At the front of the room, Captain Vincent Dougherty was in the process of becoming Admiral Vincent Dougherty. The entire family was present to watch the ceremony. Unable to help it, Mike winced when the Admiral snapped off a salute to the President and the President returned it without much energy. He looked around the room and noticed that all of the officers looked uneasy. Each of them stood stiff with rigid expressions on their faces. The past year had not been easy for the upper ranks of the military. More than a quarter of the flag level officers had retired. It appeared that the President blamed them for the failure to win the war in Iraq. As soon as the ceremony was over, the President left. The atmosphere in the room became immediately friendlier, but not much more relaxed. The Admiral circulated around the room shaking hands with friends and colleagues. The congratulations offered were tinged with a hint of reserve. Not everyone was sure that it was a good career move. When the Admiral reached Mike, he said, "I'm glad that you were able to come." "Well, Admiral, you got your wish," Mike said. He noticed the puzzled looks from some of the men around him. Many of them felt that the promotion meant that Vincent would be leaving the service soon. "What wish was that?" Vincent asked raising an eyebrow. "I won't be calling you Captain anymore," Mike answered with a grin. The comment seemed to thaw the rather frigid atmosphere in the room. It was a reminder that they operated in a world that extended beyond the anti-military view of the President. Little conversations broke out across the room as people relaxed. Vincent winked and said, "All Marines are good for is swabbing the decks." One of the Marine Generals in attendance overheard the comment and laughed. He asked, "What's that, Vince?" At a gesture from the Admiral, Mike answered, "Well, General. When I showed up to date his daughter, the Admiral told me that and ordered me to wash his kitchen floor. I did." The General slapped the side of his hip and laughed. Grinning at his friend, he said, "I remember a certain young Naval Officer doing the same thing when he met his girlfriend's father for the first time. Isn't that right, Vince?" Sally looked at her husband, arched an eyebrow, and then asked, "Uh, what was that?" "Um, that was before I ever met you," the Admiral said looking over at his friend wishing he hadn't said that. The General just laughed and slapped him on the back. ------- Mike entered the conference room and waited by the door. One of the men at the conference table gestured to a chair and said, "Please have a seat, Mr. Bowman." Walking around the table to the indicated seat, Mike examined the review panel. On taking his seat, a woman asked, "What is your job function here?" "I'm an intelligence analyst," Mike answered examining the woman. It was his understanding that she had been a lawyer for the ACLU before being asked to join the Presidential Intelligence Review Committee. This was the committee the President had put into place to reform the CIA. All they had accomplished was to make their life miserable. One of the men asked, "What subject area are you responsible for?" "That's classified," Mike answered keeping his expression neutral. He was furious at having been called to this meeting. "We have the appropriate clearances," the woman said. "I believe you, but I can't reveal classified information to you until the appropriate procedure has been followed," Mike answered. The man pushed Mike's report onto the table and said, "We have this document you authored. Is that proof enough?" Mike glanced at the report and pulled out a pen from his pocket. He wrote the document number on his hand. Looking up, he said, "No. In fact, I'll have to report that this document is in your possession in case it has been acquired through nefarious means." Surprised at the charge, the woman said, "You can't do that." "Yes, I can. In fact, I must do that," Mike answered. Leaning forward, he looked her straight in the eye and said, "I take my responsibilities very seriously. I follow all of the procedures and guidelines established by the Presidential Intelligence Review Committee. One of those guidelines is that we are to report all attempts to subvert the security of this country through political pressure to misuse or misrepresent secure information. Without following due process, I have to assume that the four of you are doing exactly that." Infuriated at having their own rules thrown back at them, one of the men at the table turned bright red and said, "Get out of here." "Yes, sir," Mike said rising from his seat. Outside the conference room, Mike glanced down at his watch and smiled. Less than five minutes had passed since he had entered the conference room. It had to be the shortest interrogation in the history of the Presidential Intelligence Review Committee. On reaching his cubicle, he reported the presence of the document in the conference room to security. He hadn't delivered a threat, he had made a promise. Rather than getting back to work, he sat back waiting for the fallout from his actions. He wondered what would happen next. It was quite possible that he'd be searching for a position in the private sector soon. It was an hour later that Dale stopped by his cubicle and said, "Come with me to my office." Once there, Mike dropped into the offered chair and, in an innocent voice, asked, "What's up?" "The shit has really hit the fan," Dale said with a smile. He had personally watched the four members of the Presidential Intelligence Review Committee be led off from the premises in handcuffs. Grinning he said, "It appears that there has been a major scandal originating from the White House concerning improper treatment of classified information." "Really?" Mike asked with a grin. "It appears that members of the Presidential Intelligence Review Committee walked out of the White House carrying classified material without following the appropriate procedures. They convened a meeting in which classified materials were going to be discussed without making the appropriate security arrangements. They attempted to get access to additional classified information without having established their bona fides," Dale said. The Assistant Director of the CIA had made sure to make as big of a deal out of this case as was possible despite the fact that it was commonly accepted that political types played loose and fast with classified information. "You don't say," Mike said as if it was all news to him. "Did you really use the word nefarious?" Dale asked chuckling. He had never heard anyone use that word in a real conversation. "Yes," Mike said. "Good job," Dale said with a grin. Looking across his desk, he said, "I suggest that now would be a good time for you to lie low for a while. I think you should pack your bags and head out to Sandia. You should plan on leaving Sunday. It appears that they are about ready to test that rail gun of yours." ------- The baby had finally fallen asleep after crying for half an hour. Mike looked over at his wife and saw how exhausted she was from taking care of the baby. Concerned that she was going to get sick, he said, "You really look tired. Why don't you go to bed now?" About to object that it was too early in the evening to go to bed, Karen reconsidered her objection. Two o'clock was too early in the morning to wake up to feed the baby. Nodding her head, she said, "That's not a bad idea." Smiling at her, he asked, "Would you like me to hold you while you fall asleep?" "That would be heavenly," Karen said. Mike held Karen until she was sound asleep. He eased out of the bed and returned to the living room. Putting the television on mute, he settled into his chair to watch an old black and white movie. The news was just too depressing to watch. He was on his third movie when little Robert woke up. Mike ran in and picked the baby up. He carried him out of their bedroom and into the kitchen. After heating a bottle of breast milk that Karen had put in the refrigerator earlier, he carried the baby to the living room. While feeding him, he said, "I'm watching one of those old movies that were made even before I was born. That's a long time ago, Robert. "It was a different world back when this movie was made. People felt proud to be an American. It was our Manifest Destiny to become one of the greatest nations in the world. We had soldiers who were national heroes with names that everyone recognized. We had actors like John Wayne who embodied everything American. "I was born when there was still an Iron Curtain. It fell while I was a sophomore in high school, but I remember what it was like growing up with the communist threat hanging over me. The Colonel, that's your grandfather, used to tell me about how the communists wanted to take over the world. He fought the communists in really horrible countries, but he can't really talk about it." Robert was much more interested in the bottle of milk than in the story. That didn't stop Mike from continuing, "One of these days, I imagine that you'll be sitting in a chair like this feeding your child and telling him similar stories about how the world was way back when things were good. Of course, one of the stories you'll have to tell is how your daddy broke his hand when you were born." Karen had wakened when Robert had first cried. After lying, half asleep, in bed for a few minutes waiting for him to cry again, she got worried and went to the basinet. When she found the basinet empty, she went to the bedroom door in time to see Mike settle into his chair with Robert in his arms. She listened to her husband tell Robert the history of the world according to Mike for a few minutes. She smiled and went back to bed pleased that she'd get a full night's sleep. She was half asleep when Mike came in with Robert. After setting him in the crib, Mike said, "I love you, little fella, just like I love your mother. You're the two most important things in my life." ------- Chapter 9 In the observation room, Mike stared in shock at the damage created by the canister launched by the rail gun. He was not alone. Four dozen men and women stood frozen in place staring at the monitors which showed a bright red cloud of dust that was floating through the targeted building. The canister had penetrated the exterior of the building and blew apart. The red powder that they had put in the canister had turned into a huge cloud. The cloud had penetrated every corner of the building. "I've never seen anything like that," one of the technicians said. Shaking his head, Mike said, "I had no idea." "That wall was two feet thick," one of the scientists said. Mike looked over at the man that had spoken and asked, "That was fired from a distance of two miles away?" "That's right," the man answered. One of the technicians said, "If that had been filled with Anthrax, anyone in that building would be in serious trouble." Feeling numb, Mike sat down on the chair and thought about the comment. As far as he knew, Iran didn't have any stores of Anthrax spores. He wondered if the Anthrax spores would even have survived the heat generated in launching the canister. That didn't bother him as much as the thought that the only thing he knew Iran had was yellowcake Uranium. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he realized that he had just watched the perfect delivery mechanism for a dirty bomb. One of the scientists looked over at Mike and noticed the gray pallor of his skin. Concerned, he asked, "Are you okay? You look a little ill." The question broke Mike out his depressing thoughts. Looking up, he said, "I want all of that film and data boxed up and shipped to Langley." "Yes, sir," the scientist said. He asked, "Do you want to watch it again?" "No. Once is enough. I hope that I never see that again," Mike said knowing that it was a slim hope. He fully expected to see that on the news as a result of Hezbollah using it on Israel. "What do you want us to do with the rail gun?" Mike sat there for a minute thinking about it. He said, "Send it to Dahlgren. We'll see what it does to a ship." "I didn't even think of that," the scientist said paling visibly. ------- Karen greeted Mike at the door with a long passionate kiss. Even though he had only been gone four days, she had missed having him around. When she broke the kiss, she said, "I missed you." "I missed you, too," Mike said. He ran a hand over her firm ass realizing only at that moment that Karen had regained the figure she had before getting pregnant. She was nursing Robert, so her breasts were still swollen. The two factors made her a very attractive woman. Even as Karen was about to invite Mike to the bedroom for a proper welcome home as practiced by military wives around the world, Robert woke up and cried. She sighed and said, "Let me feed, Robert." "Let me watch you feed Robert," Mike said seeing the disappointed look on Karen's face. He had a pretty good idea what she had been about to suggest right when Robert had started crying. "Okay," Karen said. Sitting in the rocking chair, Karen slipped open her shirt and started to feed Robert. She held the baby in her left arm and positioned her breast so that the baby wouldn't have to work to find the nipple. She sat there looking down at the baby while he nursed with a small smile on her face. Mike sat across the room watching with a satisfied smile. He said, "When I was a teenager, I used to wonder why artists always painted pictures of women feeding their child. I figured that it was just another way for the painter to get to look at the model's boobs. It wasn't until I saw you nursing Robert for the very first time that I realized what a beautiful thing it was. Now I wonder why painters even bother with sunsets, flowers, and landscapes. I mean, what are those things in comparison?" "I think nursing mothers everywhere would thank you for that compliment," Karen said looking across the room at her husband. There were times when he really surprised her with his open expression of his feelings. Somehow he managed to balance being a tough Marine with being a caring and giving man. "There's only one nursing mother that I'm interested in," Mike said. "That kind of talk will get you laid," Karen said with a grin. ------- Mike and Karen watched the pullout of the last remaining troops on the news. Mike had been wrong in his predictions of how the American presence in Iraq would end. It was a scene very reminiscent of the evacuation of Vietnam. The entire country had exploded into civil war that dwarfed anything that Mike had ever seen. As the last detail of soldiers was boarding the plane, Iraqis who had supported the United States were pressed against the fence surrounding the American Base begging to get a ride. It was their hope that they could leave the country before the death squads took to the streets. Mike shook his head and said, "They're dead." "You're right," Karen said watching the scene. She was pretty sure that her mother was swearing up a storm watching the news. "So are the reporters covering this story," Mike said. Over the past few years, the aura of invincibility that protected news reporters had disappeared in that part of the world. There had been a time when the terrorists wouldn't harm a reporter because they could be used in their propaganda campaign against the west. Now they had their own news networks and didn't need Western reporters. Karen said, "I think you're right on that one, too." "I had hoped that the violence wouldn't begin until we pulled out. I guess that was wishful thinking," Mike said. Even before the election, events had been heating up in Iraq as the terrorists came to believe that the United States was going to pull out regardless of what happened. People had called that a civil war, but it was more like a civil skirmish. After the election and the announcement of a pullout date, the violence had increased significantly. What had been a minor civil war limited to a few areas of the country had exploded. "The Kurds are forming their own country," Karen said reading the little banner that scrolled along the bottom of the screen. She wondered how Turkey was going to respond to that little move on the part of the Kurds. "Iran is going to take control of Iraq," Mike said. "I guess that is the end of Iraq." Shaking his head, Mike said, "No. Iraq will remain a country, but the government of Iraq will be a puppet government that takes its orders from Tehran." "Why not annex it?" Karen asked. "Keeping the two countries separate will give Iran two voices in OPEC and in the United Nations." Staring at Mike, Karen said, "I didn't even think of that. Jesus, Iran could come out of this as a superpower." "That's right," Mike said shaking his head. "What's next?" He glanced over at Karen and said, "Syria and Lebanon will be next to fall to Iran. Of course, Iran will have to consolidate its position before it goes after Israel. By then, I figure Israel will be in a fight for its life. I can't even predict what this President is going to do about it." "You're in a good mood today, aren't you?" Karen asked looking over at him with a frown. Sighing, Mike looked down at his left hand and said, "I guess so. I donated two fingers to create that mess." ------- "Hello, Admiral," Mike said slipping into the leather chair of the Admiral's private home office. Karen was in the living room with Sally and the baby. The Admiral looked over at Mike with a frown and said, "A rather interesting experiment was held today. I thought you might want to know the results of it." "Really?" Mike asked wondering if it had anything to do with the rail gun he had sent over to the Navy. "Well, you were responsible for the experiment by sending the device over to Dahlgren," Vincent said. A very somber expression settled on Mike's face. Afraid to hear the answer, he asked, "What happened?" "The ship would have been rendered totally non-functional and unrecoverable if the material in the canister had been toxic. Dust settled into every nook and cranny on the ship. There would have been no way to clean it," the Admiral said. Looking at Mike, he asked, "I need to know this. Where did it come from?" "I had it constructed based on the designs for one built for Iran," Mike answered. The Admiral sank into his chair and covered his eyes with a hand. He said, "I had been afraid that it was your idea. I was ready to tear you a new asshole for coming up with something like that. Now, I'm sorry to hear that I was wrong." "I know what you mean, Admiral," Mike said. He sighed and said, "The Colonel says that things like this make him miss the days when we fought real armies." "How's your father?" the Admiral asked. He had meant to swing over to the other side of the Pentagon to visit him, but had never had the chance. Mike shrugged his shoulders and said, "The last time we talked he said that he was going to retire as a Colonel. His time in Iraq killed any chance of promotion to General." Vincent shook his head and said, "I'm sorry to hear that. The President doesn't like the military and anyone involved in Iraq is on his shit list." "At least the President's attention is being occupied by all of the suicide bombers that have blown up over the past two weeks," Mike said. The Presidential spin machine was running overtime. It seemed that no matter what happened, the CIA and FBI were the ones at fault. "What's the fallout for you guys over in the CIA?" "Not too bad. Rumor has it that we're about to lose Madam Director. She's tired of getting blamed for the President's bad decisions. The FBI is really getting dumped on. The President blames them for not warning him that there were terrorists ready to blow themselves up to kill innocent Americans," Mike answered. He knew for a fact that the President had been warned. The war between the intelligence agencies and the President had moved from the halls of government to the press. Unfortunately, the Agencies were losing the war. The public wasn't too happy to hear that jurisdiction over terrorism had been transferred to local law agencies. The President, and the Press, justified it because these kinds of acts were a criminal matter rather than an issue of National Security. The public might not have bought that, but they did buy the President's argument that it was the high handed tactics of the CIA and FBI that was creating the problem. At least, that is the way the Press was covering it. "We've only got another three and a half years before he gets voted out," the Admiral said with a sigh. ------- The sound of the saw cutting away the cast made Mike want to look away. He had visions of it cutting through his hand. Regardless, he watched the process as the woman removed his cast to reveal a pale left hand that looked deformed and twisted. The woman frowned at the sight. Mike looked at his hand feeling a little disgusted by it. His little finger and ring finger curled uselessly against his palm. The little finger set at a weird angle. He said, "I don't have much feeling in the two twisted fingers, Dr. Swartz." "You suffered some nerve damage," the doctor said examining the hand. There had been barely enough bone left to set the hand. It was amazing that they had been able to get it to this condition. She said, "I want to get some new x-rays of that hand to see how well it healed." An hour later, Mike was back with the doctor. She held up the x- rays and said, "Not too bad. You're going to have to wear a hand brace from now on to protect it. Another bad break like that and you're liable to lose all use of that hand." Mike looked at the x-rays thinking that he wouldn't understand them. The sad thing was that the picture was so obvious that even a child could have understood. Where two of the bones in his palm were normal looking, the other two were mere slivers that barely hung together. There were little discontinuities in the bones. Shaking his head, he said, "That doesn't look good to me." "I'm surprised that they managed to save as much of your hand as they did," the doctor said. The damage to the palm of his hand was deceptively extensive. "I guess," Mike said as the doctor manipulated his palm. With a little work she was able to get the palm to a more natural position. Nodding her head, she said, "Yes. We'll get a brace for that. With time, the hand may recover a bit. For now, I wouldn't use it much. I definitely wouldn't get in a fight or bang it against something. A boxer break now would ruin your hand for good." He watched as she placed a brace on his hand. Curious, he asked, "What kind of brace is that?" "It is the same kind of brace we use for Carpal Tunnel Syndrome. It holds the wrist and the hand in the proper position to allow the tendons to move easily through the Carpal Tunnels," she answered. She didn't tighten the brace. Without looking at him, she said, "Don't over tighten it. That could stress the bones in your hand." "Yes, ma'am," Mike said. "You know, I like westerns. In them, you see the gunfighter shooting the other gunfighter in the hand all of the time. I never really thought about what would happen to the hand," the doctor said. Shaking her head, she said, "I'll never watch another western gunfight without thinking of your hand." "Thanks, I think," Mike said feeling that was a rather dubious honor. ------- Mike and Karen hosted a very small New Years Eve party at their house. It was just them and their parents. The television was running in the background as the men gathered together in one group while the women went into the kitchen. Vincent turned to Mike's father and asked, "So how are things in the Marines?" "I guess you could say that we're still winning battles and losing wars," Robert answered with a sad shake of his head. Looking over at the Admiral, he asked, "So why aren't you at the White House tonight?" "The President doesn't care much for the military. We weren't invited," Vincent answered. The President was hosting a very large party at the White House for actors, singers, and sports stars. Mike snorted and said, "He doesn't care for anyone associated with the defense of this country." "He does seem to prefer the Hollywood crowd," Robert said shaking his head. He looked over at the television and said, "Damn fools. Why in the hell would anyone go to Times Square when people are blowing themselves up?" "It's tradition," Vincent answered. Mike winked and said, "Didn't you hear the President's speech earlier this week? He asked the terrorists to refrain from interrupting our holidays." "Jesus, don't get me started on that," Robert said. "So are we going to watch the ball drop in Times Square?" Mike asked. "No. I've seen enough folks get killed that way," Robert said in disgust. Shaking his head, Mike said, "We tried to increase the terror alert level, but the President ordered that it be reduced." "I know. He said that raising it would only upset the terrorists and that would provoke them into attacking," Vincent said. The doorbell rang and Mike went to answer it. Before opening the door, he looked out the spy hole with his hand on his pistol. Relaxing, he opened the door and said, "Hello, Bob and Ellen. Come in." The couple from next door came into the room and looked at the two military men in uniform standing in front of the television. Looking nervous, Bob said, "I'm sorry. We didn't mean to crash your party." "Oh don't worry about that. It's not much of a party. We're just having our parents over for a night. Can I get either of you a drink?" Mike asked. "No thank you," Bob said. Ellen looked around nervously and asked, "Is your wife here?" "Sure, she's in the kitchen. Let me take you there," Mike said. He gestured to his father and father-in-law before he said, "Let me introduce you to my father-in-law, Admiral Vincent Dougherty, and my father, Colonel Robert Bowman. Gentlemen, these are my neighbors, Bob and Ellen Wilkins." Ellen greeted the two men feeling very uncomfortable at meeting individuals of such rank. While Bob made a little small talk with the two men, Mike escorted Ellen to the kitchen. He returned to the living room while Karen performed the introductions in the kitchen. Entering the room, he listened to a very awkward conversation dying a miserable death. It was time to rescue the situation. Stepping over to Bob, he asked, "How are things going where you work?" "Okay. We'll be rolling out a new product line of bandages soon. I can't wait. I expect that it will be a great seller," Bob answered. He fully expected that the commissions would allow him to move into a better neighborhood. "What kind of bandages?" Mike asked hoping to keep the conversation flowing. "The ones with the coagulant powder," Bob answered. Robert was familiar with that style of bandages having seen hundreds of the military version being used on injured men in Iraq. He said, "Those are great. They saved a bunch of men from dying in Iraq." Bob said, "I saw the reports on the effectiveness of our military bandages. I think the civilian version will save a bunch of people here, too. Police could carry them in their patrol cars and apply them to accident victims before the ambulance even shows up." Vincent glanced over at the television before he said, "You might be right. They could save a lot of lives." Looking around nervously for a second, Bob leaned over towards the Admiral and, in a quiet voice, asked, "Are we safe?" Vincent said, "That's a question that should be answered by Mike. He knows more about what is going on then we do." Bob turned to Mike and asked, "Are we safe?" Raising an eyebrow, Mike asked, "What do you mean by safe?" Licking his lips, Bob said, "My wife is worried about going to the grocery store. She's afraid that she's going to get blown up. Are we safe?" Mike exchanged glances with his father and father-in-law. Taking a deep breath, he answered, "Do you want the truth?" "Yes," Bob answered. It seemed to him that every other day brought news of some sort of terrorist attack. So far they hadn't gone out into the communities, but he didn't think that would remain the case for much longer. "No. We are not safe," Mike answered. The other two men nodded their heads in agreement. Limp, Bob went over to one of the chairs and sat down. Shaking his head, he said, "I was afraid that you were going to say that." "I'm sorry." "I'll take that drink you offered," Bob said. "What would you like?" Mike asked. "How about a Scotch if you have it," Bob said. "I've got it," Mike replied. Turning to the two older men, he asked, "Another round of soda water for you two?" When both men answered in the affirmative, Mike went to the table to prepare the drinks. Bob looked over at the Admiral and Colonel. He asked, "Are you two on duty?" "No, but we expect to be called to duty tonight," Vincent answered. "What time do you think we'll get the call?" Robert asked. "I figure I'll get it about 12:05. Your's should come in within five minutes of that," Vincent answered. Mike entered the room with the drinks and said, "The President won't even think of putting you on alert. He's not that smart." With disgust in his voice, Vincent said, "We aren't waiting for the President. As soon as the bombs go off, we're going to Red Alert." Bob looked around wildly and asked, "What bombs?" Robert gestured to the television and answered, "The ones that are in that crowd." Looking at the crowd gathered in Times Square, Bob paled. He asked, "Do you know that for a fact?" "No, but commonsense says that it has to happen tonight," Mike answered handing him his drink. He held out the two drinks for the older men. "Why weren't we warned?" Bob asked. "We tried. The President doesn't believe that the CIA, FBI, or ATF know what they are doing. He dismissed our concerns. He believes that we are a bunch of fascist pigs who want to trample on everyone's civil rights," Mike answered. Robert raised his glass and said, "Here's to 2010. This is the year of the great cluster fuck." ------- New Years Day 2010 went down in history as the New Years Massacre. It wasn't known as that because of the fifty-eight people killed and three hundred people wounded by the suicide bombers in Times Square. Despite the fact that another thousand people were injured in their attempt to flee, the deaths and injuries there barely scratched the surface of what happened during the day. Mike stared at the television shaking his head in dismay. The image of a burning Mosque was being broadcast. The reporter on the scene was being rather factual, but the talking head back at the studio was condemning the action as an over reaction. He was saying that you couldn't blame everyone because of the actions of a few. Coming up behind him, Karen glanced at the television. Two seconds of video was sufficient for her to know what was happening. She asked, "How many Mosques have been burnt down now?" "I don't know. They've stopped giving the numbers after a hundred," Mike answered. The news channel was showing the pictures of the riots in New York. It was ugly. With a banner splashed across the screen announcing a news flash, the camera switched over to a view of a Muslim man getting beaten to death in Los Angeles by a bunch of Latino gang members. He said, "The press is estimating that over four hundred Muslims have been killed so far today. There's going to ten times that many by nightfall." "What in the hell is happening in this country?" Karen asked staring at the image of the man getting beaten to death on live television. Mike's mother, Louise, answered, "The American Eagle is waking up to a new reality and it doesn't like it." "Although the Press agrees with the President, I don't think that the American people buy the President's assertion that last night was the act of a couple of crazy men acting alone," Mike said turning to look at his mother. She and Sally had spent the night after the Admiral and the Colonel had raced off to the Pentagon. It didn't look like either man would return any time soon. Sally said, "They've called out the National Guard in New York City, Newark, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Atlanta, and Cleveland. There's a curfew in place, but there are a few hotheads out there that are ignoring it." "That's why I said that the casualties will only be four thousand rather than four hundred thousand," Mike said in disgust. Shaking his head, he said, "This could have all been prevented." "How?" Sally asked looking at Mike. Shaking his head, Mike felt sick to his stomach. He answered, "I don't know. It makes me sick to see innocent people getting killed because we weren't allowed to watch the few bad eggs. There should have been a way to wake up the 'Peace At Any Price' groups that grabbed control of this country. There are bad people here and we need to find them." "They won't wake up until a terrorist is slitting their throat. Even then they'll be trying to talk them out of it," Sally said. ------- Chapter 10 On a fine May afternoon, Mike sat in his cubicle attempting to work. The flow of intelligence data from overseas had dried up. The flow had dropped after a CIA agent in Iraq was arrested and sent to the Netherlands to stand trial in the World Court. When the President didn't protest the arrest, a significant percentage of the few remaining agents overseas resigned. One of the agents who resigned was the man who had been investigating the German company that had built the rail gun. The German Intelligence Community had stopped co-operating with the CIA. They were afraid of getting caught up in the backwash of an intelligence scandal in the United States. Without support of the German government, it was impossible for the agent to work through the German legal system to get permission to tap the company's telephones. Knowing that if he was caught breaking German law he'd be prosecuted had been the final straw. The Israelis were still monitoring the company, but they had more or less cut out sharing Intelligence Data with the United States for the same reasons the Germans had stopped co-operating. It was a surprise when his query against the intel data base returned a hit. He opened the article and read it. He groaned and rested his head in his hands. Getting up, he started shoveling the documents he had been reading into his file cabinet. He cursed his left hand after dropping a stack of papers. It took him five minutes to get all of his documents locked up. Marching to Dale's office, he ignored everything going on around him. He rudely brushed aside Chang in the hall and walked into Dale's office without knocking. Dale gave him a look that should have sent him running. Mike ignored the look and said, "Eight months ago, the Iranians starting building ten of the rail guns here in the States." Dale felt like someone had hit him in the stomach with a baseball bat. Falling back in his chair, he asked, "Ten? Here?" "Yes," Mike answered. "Shit!" ------- "You look comfortable sitting there," Karen remarked looking over at Mike seated in his favorite chair holding Robert in his arms. "I am," Mike commented. Robert chose that moment to start kicking. He put the child on the floor and watched as he crawled over to the small pile of brightly colored toys in the corner. Shaking his head, he said, "They grow up so fast. Look at him go." "Yes. I have to watch him every minute," Karen said. Robert was making all kinds of little noises as he played with the blocks. Mike smiled and asked, "Did you hear what he just said?" Karen hadn't heard anything that sounded like a real word. Looking at Mike suspiciously, she answered, "No. What did he just say?" "OohRah. Our baby boy is going to grow up to be a Marine," Mike said with a grin. Karen laughed and said, "That's right. He'd going to grow up to be a Marine just like his Daddy." "You know, sitting here watching you take care of little Robert makes everything right in my world. I mean, I see a lot of things that are pretty ugly at work. Coming home and seeing how much you love our child, well... I think that the world is okay," Mike said. He felt bad that he couldn't put his feelings into better words. Tears welling up in her eyes, Karen said, "That's the nicest thing anyone has ever said to me." "I love you," Mike said. ------- Mike sat in a chair at the front of the room in the Headquarters Conference room thinking that he was really beginning to hate that place. Each time he looked out at the two hundred faces looking in his direction, he wished that he had a Tums. It seemed to him that every alphabet agency was represented in the crowd. Dale finished with his introduction and turned to Mike. Smiling, he said, "The show is all yours." Mike rose and walked over to the podium. Reaching the podium, he said, "The following film is classified Top Secret." His announcement was met with looks that ranged from interest to total boredom. Looking up at the media center, Mike said, "Please lower the lights and show the film." Mike turned to watch the edited film play out on the screen beside him. It showed the rail gun and the operator releasing the canister onto the rail. It looked like the canister just disappeared as the electromagnetic forces launched it. The film transitioned to showing the outside of the targeted building. After a few seconds, a huge hole appeared in the side of the building. The scene shifted to cameras inside the building as a red cloud spread through the whole area. The film ended and the lights returned. Mike turned to look at his audience. Two hundred pairs of eyes were staring at the screen despite the fact that the film had ended. The room was so silent that he could have heard a pin drop. Mike said, "That is a device that we built based on a design that originated in a German company. Iran contracted to have one built by that company. The red cloud was a powdered dye that had been loaded in the canister. I have to warn you that anything could be loaded in the canister. It could be loaded with Anthrax spores, sodium cyanide, or a radioactive material." Chang was staring at the screen with a look of horror on his face. He had been harboring a grudge since Mike had brushed him off the previous day, but that was forgotten in light of what he had just seen. He recalled when he had laughed at Mike about the rail gun intelligence. Feeling sick to his stomach, he didn't feel like laughing now. He stared at the screen thinking that he would like to return to China. Two hundred heads turned to look at Mike. He said, "Yesterday, we received intel that Iran had ten more of them built in this country. We have no idea where they are. We need you to find them. Are there any questions?" There was still dead silence in the room. People didn't even shift uncomfortably in their seats. Mike hoped that meant the meeting was almost over. He turned to Sanjay and asked, "Sanjay, would you pass out the specifications for the device, please?" Sanjay wobbled his head and answered, "Yes, Mike." One of the men in the audience raised his hand and said, "We'll need to know everything you can tell us about who might have these devices." "I've told you everything we know about who has it. All we know is that Iran has ordered that ten of them be manufactured here. We don't know who manufactured the parts. We don't know who picked up the parts. We don't know where they are being assembled. We don't know anything other than the fact that we received an intel message telling us that ten rail guns were being built in this country. The source is impeccable," Mike answered. He forgot to mention that the order had been issued eight months ago. "How does it work?" Mike flipped the switch on the podium and the first slide of a PowerPoint presentation showed up on the screen. He started to give the lecture that he had titled Rail Gun 101; it was a strange mixture of physics and engineering. He took his time hoping that he didn't lose his audience with the technical details. ------- Weeks passed and there was no news about the rail guns. Mike checked the intel database several times a day hoping to learn something new, but there was no news. After a week, the basic plans were released to law enforcement agencies in the hope that some alert cop somewhere would recall having seen them somewhere. Dale entered the office and said, "We've been called to the White House." "What?" Mike asked wondering if he had misunderstood. "We've been asked to visit the President at the White House," Dale answered thinking that Mike hadn't heard him the first time. Leaning back in his chair, Mike picked up a report and opened it as if to read it. He said, "That's nice, but I don't want to go. I have an idea, why don't we send Chang in our place?" Dale laughed and said, "I'm afraid that won't work. The President wants to talk to you. I'm coming along so that when you start to say something that will get you fired I can kick you under the table." Mike said, "That's not going to do any good except get you fired, too. He's not going to believe what I tell him. He's going to fire me no matter what I say." "They say that seeing is believing," Dale said giving Mike with a knowing smile. Looking at a piece of paper or hearing a description didn't have the same impact as seeing it. "That's a good idea," Mike said. "I'll have a CD couriered to the White House, send our bona fides over, and request that a secure conference room be set up for a briefing with the Secretary of Defense," Dale said. "He's already seen the CD," Mike said wondering why they would brief the Secretary of Defense on something that he already knew about. Despite the President's general disdain of the military, the Secretary of Defense was a good supporter of the armed services. Mike wondered how long he would last in that position. "I know that and you know that, but the President doesn't know that. I'm pretty sure that the Secretary of Defense won't tell him," Dale said with a wink. Grinning, he said, "I'll let you know when everything is arranged." Four hours later the President sat in the briefing room watching the film made of the rail gun in use. When it was over, Mike said, "We have an intelligence report that ten of them were built here in this country." "So on the basis of this one report, you scare the hell out every cop in the country?" the President asked. "Yes," Mike answered. He purposefully left off any honorific earning a look from Dale that suggested he should behave himself. "Are you a fool?" the President asked. He growled and said, "On the basis of what might be little more than a rumor, you have put every police department in the country on alert. You know that I demand one hundred percent accurate intelligence. You admit that you don't have any confirmation of that report." The Secretary of Defense covered his eyes with a hand while rubbing his forehead. Mike shook his head and said, "Let's just assume for the moment that there is a one out of a million chance that the rumor, as you put it, is true. Are you willing to risk the consequences of what would happen if it is true?" "Yes." "You are a very brave man. In fact, you have to be the bravest man that I've ever met," Mike said. Dale kicked him under the table, but Mike didn't look away from the President. "What do you mean?" Mike snorted and said, "Because I can just picture one of those canisters filled with radioactive material exploding through the White House covering you and your wife with radioactive particles. I imagine that it will be a long slow painful death. Radiation poisoning has a tendency to kill very slowly." "They wouldn't dare," the President said with a white face. Ignoring the President's comment, Mike continued, "While I won't miss you, I will feel sad that the White House will never be used again. It will be a tragic loss of a national treasure. I'm pretty sure they'll replace this grand building with a bunker style concrete building that will be very modern in appearance, but ugly as sin." "They wouldn't dare," the President repeated. "Yes, I'm pretty sure they would replace the White House with an ugly building. Have you really looked at the recent government buildings that have gone up? None of them have style," Mike said enjoying himself way too much. "Not that, you fool. I meant they wouldn't dare fire at me!" "The White House would be my first target if I was them. With ten of those weapons, I could take out Congress and the Supreme Court as well. Just think, in one afternoon I could destroy the entire United States government," Mike said. Mike rubbed his hands together and, grinning at the President, added, "Sometimes I even impress me with just how evil my mind can work." Smiling at the President, Dale said, "We can pull back the alert. As you suggested, it is just a one in a million chance. Just give us the order and we'll do it. Of course, it is your life you are gambling." They were leaving the White House twenty minutes later with explicit instructions to increase their efforts to find out more about the missing rail guns. When they reached Dale's car, Dale started laughing. He had been holding back ever since Mike had started his discourse on how ugly the new White House would be. Unlocking the doors, he said, "That was a very good move despite having thrown an insult or two at him." "He's a coward. There's nothing like a direct threat to his life to motivate him to take the appropriate actions," Mike said in disgust. Almost without exception the more vocal members of the 'Peace at Any Price' crowd were surrounded by bodyguards. ------- Mike sat down on the couch and ran his fingers through his hair. Karen came up behind him and said, "You look exhausted. Did you have a bad day at work?" "I'm not so much exhausted as I am frustrated," Mike said enjoying the neck rub Karen was giving him. She didn't do that very often, but he really enjoyed them. "Is there anything that I can do to help you out?" Karen asked. "You can go put on your slinky black dress and get ready to go out to dinner," Mike answered. "We aren't going to take the baby to a restaurant, are we?" Karen asked. She had always hated it when babies cried while she was trying to enjoy a romantic meal. It would be horrible to be the one creating a problem for others. "I got a baby sitter," Mike said looking up at Karen with a smile. Frowning at the idea of leaving her baby with someone else for a whole evening, Karen said, "I'm not sure that he's old enough to leave with a..." "I had to give your mother an outrageous bribe, but she agreed to do it," Mike said cutting off her objection. Surprised at the identity of the babysitter, Karen laughed and asked, "What did you bribe her with?" "A chance to be alone with the baby for an evening," Mike answered with a smile. "She would have paid you for the chance," Karen said. "You know my mother's going to be upset," Mike said. Knowing what Mike was going to say next, Karen said, "Just tell your mother that my father outranks your father." "That's cold," Mike said with a laugh. "Besides, it'll be her turn next," Karen said deciding that she liked the idea of having both sets of parents in the same part of the country. ------- Mike stopped by the Internet Café and took his usual position at the terminal. Much to his surprise he found an announcement upon accessing the website. He considered ignoring it for the moment. He was about to click on the link that would take him to the known spies area to see if he could get any insight into who might be building the rail guns for the Iranians. At the last minute, he decided to check out the announcement. The announcement was simple and read, "As a result of the intelligence information that we've developed over the past three years, the investigations of all individuals holding Top Secret clearances have been completed well ahead of schedule. Arrests will be made in two days. It was anticipated that the need for our efforts would have ended, but our charter dictates that we continue until the intelligence services recovered the ability to develop accurate assessments. The legal framework within which we function remains in effect. Thank you, NSA001 of the Intelligence 100." Mike frowned and read the announcement a second time. Sitting back, he stared at the screen with a puzzled expression. He wondered if he had missed something at some point in the past. Curious, he asked, "What in the hell is the Intelligence 100?" There was no one to ask. He looked over at the counter and thought of asking Joe, but didn't feel that was the right thing to do. Shaking his head, he went to work. The idea of rail guns at loose within the country terrified him. Scrolling down all of the way to the bottom of the page he noticed a link that he had never explored. It was titled, "Intelligence 100." He followed the link and read the page that came up on the screen. Shocked, he discovered that he was a member of a group called the Intelligence 100. It involved exactly 100 intelligence agents distributed across every intelligence agency at the Federal level including civilian and military. It was made up of individuals working in the intelligence community who had served in the military until retired or released due to injuries sustained in the line of duty. In fact, every member was third generation military with each generation having served at officer rank. The group functioned under the authority of a top secret Presidential Order issued the same year that Mike had joined the CIA. It was formed because of an unofficial consensus among a number of top level officials that foreign agents within the intelligence community were preventing accurate security assessments of real threats to the United States. Mike knew that was a fact. Some had even felt that those same foreign agents had effectively shaped the WMD assessment that had caused the President so much trouble. Mike didn't believe that the foreign agents were to blame for that mess. Mike sat back thinking about what had lead up to the invasion of Iraq. For all he knew, the President could have pressured folks into making a misleading assessment. It was just as likely that the assessments were accurate and the President misrepresented it. Of course, it was also possible that analysts who had the President's ear really did believe that there were WMDs in Iraq and that they represented a real threat. He hadn't read the original reports and didn't have a need to know that would have granted him access to them. Although lots of people were pushing different explanations as fact, he didn't know the answer for a fact and the people he worked with didn't like to talk about it. Even the idle comments he overheard in the hallways were contradictory. Regardless of the reason, the mess in Iraq had cost him two fingers. Rather than waste his time trying to place blame on this group or that, Mike felt that it was his duty to deal with the consequences that threatened the country regardless of past decisions that may have created them. At the present time, one of those consequences was that ten rail guns were getting built, or had been built, somewhere in the United States. That thought reminded him why he was there. He returned to reading the webpage and discovered that the purpose of the Intelligence 100 was two-fold. The first was to identify and eliminate foreign agents influencing national policy. The second was to develop accurate assessments that were not biased according to the dictates of political correctness until the foreign agents were eliminated and the intelligence agencies recovered the ability to develop assessments untainted by the legacy of misinformation introduced by foreign agents. He clicked the link that identified the members of the Intelligence 100. Reading down the list of names, he found a few that he recognized — Tim Brown, Dale Dawson, and Jack Lancer. Pausing at CIA009, he read the name Alex Darnell. Smiling, he said, "I still owe you a beer, Alex." ------- "You look happy," Karen commented when Mike entered the house. Winking at her, he said, "I just had some very good news." "What kind of news?" Karen asked. Winking at her, he said, "Saving the country kind of news." "Oh," Karen said disappointed that he wasn't supposed to share it with her. She knew that he wouldn't share the news with her since he took his responsibilities very seriously. "Don't worry about it. It is very good news," Mike said hugging her. In just a few days he wasn't going to have to worry about Chang. Karen said, "I hope it has something to do with the news on television." "What news?" Mike asked. "A policeman in Pennsylvania was killed when he stopped a bunch of terrorists for speeding. Pennsylvania state troopers chased the terrorists down and confiscated some kind of deadly weapon," Karen answered. Excited that they may have gotten the break they needed to track down all of the rail guns, Mike asked, "Did they capture the terrorists?" "No. There were three of them in the van and they were armed with automatic weapons. They all died in a huge shootout. The news was broadcasting the whole thing from a helicopter. You should have seen it. It was the most amazing thing I've ever watched," Karen said. She had been cheering when the police had opened fire on the van. There were at least a hundred of them and they didn't stop firing until they had run out of ammunition. The reporter covering the news might have been dismayed, but Karen had been happy to see it. "I'm sure that it was an impressive gunfight, but we shouldn't have killed them," Mike said. "They opened fire on the state troops with automatic weapons before they even had a chance to ask them to surrender," Karen said. Frowning, she said, "You sound like that liberal asshole who was commenting on the gunfight claiming that the state troopers used excessive force." "I'm sure they used the appropriate level of force in taking them down. It's still bad news that all of the terrorists were killed. If it was up to me, I would have captured them alive, questioned them, and then shot them," Mike said snorting at the idea of being compared to a news reporter. Shaking his head, he said, "We really need to know what they were doing." "Oh, I didn't realize," Karen said. Based on his desire to question them, she wondered if he knew something about the weapon that had been found. ------- Chapter 11 "Sanjay!" Pausing in his trek to the building, Sanjay turned to look at Mike. He smiled and said, "Mike. It's a very nice day, isn't it?" Looking at the blue sky overhead and feeling the warm breeze, Mike said, "Yes, it is a very beautiful day. It kind of makes me wish that I was out fishing." "Yes, that does sound nice. I like to fish and today would be a very good day to do that," Sanjay said with a smile. He still harbored a hope that Mike could be a friend. He rather liked the straightforward way that Mike addressed problems. "Really?" Mike asked thinking he had never seen an Indian out fishing. "Oh, yes. My room mate when I was at the university used to take me fishing. We would drink beer in his boat, fish, and talk about life in America. When I moved here, I even got a boat," Sanjay said giving his usual head wobble. "Maybe we should go fishing one of these weekends," Mike said. "That would be very nice," Sanjay said giving Mike a big smile. Mike said, "Dale and I are having a meeting this afternoon concerning the incident in Pennsylvania. We'd like you to be there." "I will attend with great pleasure," Sanjay said. He paused and pointed to a fenced in area off to the side of the parking lot. The fence was topped with barbed wire. Curious, he asked, "What is that for?" Mike looked over at it and shook his head at the idea that the holding area was put in such an obvious location. If he were a spy, one look at that would have him running in the opposite direction. He answered, "I don't know. What do you think?" "Maybe we are getting guard dogs and that will be their kennel," Sanjay answered shrugging his shoulders. Mike smiled when he said, "You might be right. It does look like something you would keep dogs in." The pair walked into the building together talking about the events in Pennsylvania. After making their way through the building, they reached their office area. Sanjay went on towards his office when Mike stepped into his office. Mike looked at the man in his office and asked, "What are you doing in my office?" Chang spun around in surprise and answered, "I was waiting for you." Sanjay had heard the beginning of the confrontation and returned to stand behind Mike. After a quick glance at Chang, he asked, "What was he doing?" Mike answered, "It looked to me like he was getting ready to search my desk." "That is not good. You should report this to security," Sanjay said glaring at Chang. Although it was a security violation, many analysts kept their passwords on scraps of paper tucked in their desks. He suspected that Chang had wanted to search Mike's desk in the hope of finding his passwords. Dismissing Sanjay's suggestion, Chang said, "There's no reason to call security. I just stopped in here to talk with you. I wanted to ask if there was any news about those rail guns." "You could have gone to the databases yourself," Mike said knowing that if Chang had just stepped into his office that he would have seen him in the hallway. Shaking his head, Chang said, "I'm sure that you have some ideas about what is going on with them that haven't made it into the databases yet. I thought that maybe if we talked about it that we might come up with an idea as to where they might be." "I don't have time for that this morning," Mike said deciding that pursuing the matter at that moment would be a waste of time. He knew that Chang's time at the CIA was limited. Chang left and gave Sanjay a smirk as if he had gotten away with something. Sad that Mike had not pursued the possible security breach, Sanjay stood in the hallway looking at Mike with disappointment for a moment before returning to his office. This had been an opportunity to get rid of someone he thought was a very bad man. He knew that Donald would have been all over Chang for doing that. ------- Later that afternoon, the sounds of a fight echoed through the halls disturbing the meeting that Mike was holding. It sounded like someone was shouting in Chinese and two men were shouting back in English. There was a loud thud against the wall of the conference room. Sanjay looked around worried and asked, "What is going on?" Looking away from the screen at the front of the room, Dale answered, "It sounds like they are removing Chang from the premises." Hearing that the fight had resumed after the thud, Mike smiled and said, "It sounds to me like they are trying to remove Chang." "I do believe that you're right," Dale said with a chuckle. Turning to the screen, he pointed at the picture of one of the men who had been killed in Pennsylvania. He asked, "What do we know about him?" One of the men from the terrorism task force answered, "That is Mohammad Kuchemeshgi. He's an Iranian. He started his career shuttling information and weapons between Tehran and Hezbollah in Syria. About ten years ago, he was put in charge of a Hezbollah training facility inside Iran. He held that position for five years and then disappeared for a couple of years. We believe that he was in Lebanon during that little episode between Israel and Lebanon. He resurfaced two years ago when he immigrated to Canada requesting political asylum. He's been living there for the past two years." Sanjay was trying to keep up with the presentation and trying to make out what was going on outside the conference room. Chang was shouting something, but it was almost impossible to make it out. Worried, he asked, "Shouldn't we be out there?" Mike smiled at the question and answered, "I think the Marines have it well in hand." Sanjay stared at Mike wondering how he knew it was Marines removing Chang. Unable to hold back his curiosity, he asked, "Marines? Shouldn't it be our security detail escorting him out?" "Our security people are a little busy right now processing evidence. The FBI is busy making arrests in other places," Dale answered. "I believe it was the Acting Director's request that Marines be used to escort Chang and a few others out of the building," Tim Brown said with a smile. He felt that it was the suggestion that having individuals who could be court-martialed escorting the suspected traitors out of the building to where they could be processed by a handful of FBI agents that convinced the Acting Director to use the Marines. Looking around the room, Sanjay realized that the activities in the hallway had nothing to do with Mike having caught Chang in his office. It was part of something larger than that and he suspected that Mike had known it was coming. He asked, "Did I miss a memo or something?" Ignoring Sanjay's question, Mike asked, "So do we know who the associates of this Mohammad character are?" ------- Mike entered the house to be met at the door by Karen. After giving her a good kiss hello, he said, "You look mighty pleased." "I heard the news. Big things happening all over the country," Karen said with a smile. About three minutes into the news coverage of the massive arrests around the country she had figured out what had been the news that had Mike so happy a couple of days earlier. She asked, "Was anyone you know arrested?" "Chang," Mike answered with a grin. "Thank God," Karen said. "Anyone else?" "Four of our Islamic friends on the terrorism task force were escorted out," Mike said with a grin. He was sure that one of them had identified the CIA agent who had been arrested to Iranian officials as a way of crippling efforts to collect data in that country. They were still processing people in the 'dog kennel' when he had left from work. The individuals inside the cage didn't look that happy. The Marines guarding the cage looked more than willing to shoot anyone who complained too strenuously. There was a tense moment when very battered looking Chang had pointed to him and Sanjay while shouting that he would get them. "It's about time there was a clean sweep inside the agency," Karen said. "You wouldn't believe what the atmosphere was like in the building after they escorted all of the spies and traitors out of there," Mike said. It was as if someone had declared a party. The cafeteria had swelled to standing room only as people stood around discussing the Marine invasion. He had never really heard people laughing in the cafeteria until that afternoon. "I bet," Karen said. Mike said, "We lost a lot of people today, but I think our jobs just became significantly easier." "Would you like to go out and celebrate?" Karen asked. "Well, I tried to call my mother and your mother, but they are already busy. It seems that our parents are celebrating this as well," Mike said. There had been a number of arrests at the Pentagon as well. "I talked to Ellen next door and she's agreed to watch Robert this evening," Karen said with a grin. "Really?" Mike asked. It was a surprise to him that she would leave her baby with someone who wasn't family. This was really looking like a good day. Smiling at him, Karen said, "Yes, really. I'm looking forward to starting on a little brother or sister for Robert." ------- Sanjay piloted his boat along the Shenandoah River with an easy hand. It was obvious that he was perfectly comfortable on the river. They went around a small bend in the river and Sanjay pointed out a log in the water. He said, "I caught a six pound bass over there a couple of years ago. It was a real beauty. The mouth was so big you could have put a beer can in it." Laughing, Mike asked, "Do you spend a lot of time out here?" "Yes. I used to come out here every other weekend with Donald. I didn't go much after he died," Sanjay said. He brought the boat to a stop and said, "We'll drift along here and fish towards the shore." "Sounds like a plan to me," Mike said. He reached down and opened his tackle box. It took him a moment to decide which lure to use. "Catch," Sanjay said. He waited for Mike to look up before he tossed a coke over to him. Smiling when Mike caught it, he said, "Sodas before lunch, beer after lunch." Laughing, Mike popped the top on his can and said, "Good planning." Sanjay nodded and took a sip of his drink. Putting it down, he prepared his rod. A few minutes later he cast out towards the shore. As he cranked the reel, he said, "Ah, this is the life." "Isn't it though," Mike said sending his lure hurtling to the shore. It hit the water a few feet from shore. He started cranking the reel. The two men chatted amiably as the morning passed. Sanjay caught a fish and demonstrated that he was no stranger to fishing with the deft manner in which he removed the hook and dropped the fish into the live well. Pleased with the catch, Sanjay said, "I don't have to stop by the grocery store and buy a fish on the way home tonight." Mike laughed and asked, "Do you have to do that often?" "Not really," Sanjay said wobbling his head. Holding his hands about four feet apart, he smiled and asked, "Did I ever tell you about the one that got away?" "No," Mike answered with a laugh. Sanjay was quiet for a minute and then said, "I'm glad that they took Chang away. I was afraid of him. After Donald died, I was sure that Chang had done it. I didn't know who to trust. I approached you, but you didn't follow up on my hints." "I believed you and did follow up on it. You weren't the only one who believed that Chang had killed Donald, but they weren't prepared to arrest him. They were waiting for a clean sweep," Mike said. "I'm sorry," Sanjay said looking down at the floor of the boat. "For what?" Mike asked casting his line. He felt a small tug but was too late to set the hook. "I thought you did nothing and I was quite disappointed in you," Sanjay said. He looked at the shore and, after a few seconds, appeared to make up his mind about something important. Looking over at Mike, he said, "The people from India are very conservative and are very unwilling to change their ways. They support each other very much and form a community in which they can act and think Indian. They will help each other by sharing information that allows them to work the system to their advantage. They want to be Indians who live in America, not Americans. They don't trust Indians who are too friendly with Americans and will stop supporting them." "Is that why all of you sit together at lunch?" Mike asked. He crumpled his empty soda can and set it down in the boat. Even though it was early, Sanjay reached over and pulled out two beers. He tossed one to Mike and opened the other. After taking a big sip of beer, he answered, "Yes and no. It is a little comforting to sit with others who share your language and cultural background. You've got to understand that we basically live immersed in a culture that is very different from where we grew up. It is very nice to be able to speak your first tongue and make cultural references that are easily understood by everyone." "I never thought about it like that," Mike said. Sanjay shrugged his shoulders and said, "The problem is that it is basically expected that I will always sit with them. There were times when I wished that I could join my co-workers when I was working with them on a major project. I often came back from lunch feeling like I had again become an outsider. "I am ashamed to admit that I sit with the other Indians because I don't want to become outcast. Donald was my best friend, but we didn't socialize at the office. Donald understood that it would have made it difficult for me to deal with the people from India. I feel guilty that that we didn't eat lunch together and talk about fishing. There were times when Donald was saying something that I knew would get him in trouble and I felt bad that I wasn't there to nudge him in the side to shut up." "I can understand that," Mike said. He had a good hard hit and set the hook feeling a little irritated that the discussion was being interrupted. He landed a nice three pound bass. After removing the hook, he held it up by the mouth and said, "Look at that beauty." "That is a very nice bass," Sanjay said opening the live well. "For your fish fry," Mike said with a wink as he dropped the fish into the live well. If they decided to release the fish, they would still be healthy. "Thank you," Sanjay said. After closing the live well, he said, "I think I am going to stop sitting with the other Indians. I think they are wrong." Nodding his head, Mike thought about what it would mean to become an outcast from people who shared a common background. He said, "It's a shame that you have to choose us or them. There should just be an us." "That's a very wise thing you have just said," Sanjay said thoughtfully. He repeated it, "There should just be an us. I think you are right about that." "That's the idea behind the American melting pot; people from everywhere come here and become one people." Sanjay bobbled his head and said, "There have been times when I've forgotten that despite how much my old college room mate drilled that into me." "I think that a lot of people have forgotten that. Too many people want to keep themselves separate. We have African Americans, Asian Americans, Mexican Americans, Arab Americans, Indian Americans, and, for all I know, Martian Americans. What happened to just being an American?" Mike said. ------- Mike banged on the steering wheel of his car in anger. Driving into work, he had heard on the news that the ACLU was busy trying to get all of the men arrested in the sweep out on bail. Swearing, he said, "Those fuckers are just trying to destroy this country." He pulled into the parking lot and found a space beside a van that wasn't too far from the entrance. Getting out, he looked over at where the holding pen had been. The holding pen was gone. Facilities had even patched the grass where the posts had been driven into the ground. Mike made his way to his cubicle with a bounce in his step. It felt good walking to his office knowing that he wasn't going to have to watch his back. Sanjay was walking towards him in the hallway. He greeted him, "Hello, Sanjay." "Hello, Mike. I hope that you didn't get into too much trouble for getting home late," Sanjay said. Mike laughed and said, "No. Karen was very understanding. I had a great time." "That is good to hear. I hope that we can go fishing again," Sanjay said. "I'd like that," Mike said. Sanjay wobbled his head and said, "Good. I talked to my wife last night about inviting you and your family over for a barbecue. She thought it would be a good idea. Would you like to come over Saturday night?" "I'll have to ask my wife," Mike said. "Of course, all men know who is really in charge. I guess had I better get to work. Dale is holding a meeting over in the anti- terrorism area and has asked me to attend," Sanjay said. "Okay," Mike said. He entered his cubicle and looked down at the note on his keyboard. Dale had invited him to the meeting, but it wasn't necessary for him to attend. Frowning, Mike thought about it and decided that it was better to learn what the folks at Sandia had discovered about the rail gun that had been captured. ------- Mike stared at the screen at the Internet Café. The unofficial alert level used by the Intelligence 100 was at the third highest level possible. Rather than the puny five level system used by Homeland Security, their system had ten different levels. The first level wasn't safe, but threat level normal and corresponded to the middle level of the Homeland Security system. It meant that enemies were operating at normal levels against the United States. The tenth level identified that there was an active attack occurring within the borders of the country. The ninth level identified that there was an active attack against American territory outside the borders. This was used to encompass American military bases and embassies overseas. The eighth level was used to indicate that there was sufficient evidence to conclude that an attack within the borders of the country was going to occur within seventy-two hours. This level did not admit the possibility that it might not happen. It meant that it was going to happen with a certainty greater than ninety-five percent. Mike clicked the link and read about the threat. It appeared that the NSA had multiple intercepts of messages from Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, and Pakistan to individuals within the United States. The messages ordered that operations were to begin inside America as a result of the arrests of embedded agents. The calls had been to disposable phones that couldn't be tracked. There were still nine rail guns that had not yet been located. Mike clicked on the link that allowed a member to add notes to the message and added a comment to that effect. He added a link to the film of the rail gun in operation. He also posted a request that anyone who might know what kind of material was likely to be loaded in a canister post it even if the evidence was sketchy. There was nothing else for Mike to do. He had warned as many people as possible of the danger. He knew that his warning was being taken seriously. The gunfight between the terrorists and the Pennsylvania state troopers had heightened awareness among local law enforcement. While he was thinking about it, the screen flashed over to a picture of a woman sucking on a man's cock. The waitress looked at the picture and then at Mike. It a disgusted voice, she said, "Do you want your usual coffee?" "You wouldn't happen to have some scotch, would you?" Mike asked. "No, we're a café, not a bar," the waitress replied rolling her eyes. She could envision him whipping out his cock and masturbating while looking at the pictures if he had enough to drink. "I'll take a coffee," Mike said. He looked at the picture thinking that the woman in the picture wasn't all that good looking. When the waitress left, the screen returned to the page he had been modifying. The waitress returned with his coffee. The screen had changed to show the same woman playing with a vibrator. She put his coffee on the table and said, "Here you go." "Thanks," Mike said. He picked up the cup and took a sip of the hot beverage. The waitress didn't understand this particular customer. He never looked at anything other than pornographic images, but never leered at her like the other men who were looking at those kinds of websites. He was always polite and looked embarrassed whenever she showed up. The waitress asked, "Why are you always looking at that porno?" Mike thought about how to answer that question. After a few seconds, he answered, "Sometimes you get so tired of the ugliness of reality that you need a little escape into fantasy." "Oh. Your reality is so ugly that it brings you here three nights a week?" she asked looking at him with a frown. "It's so ugly that I would be here five nights a week if it was possible," Mike answered. "You seem like a nice enough guy; it's a shame that you're a pervert," she said. She wondered why the owner of the internet café kept saying that the country needed more men like John, or as she called him — Pervert John. "Thanks for the coffee," Mike said. He didn't like the idea that he had achieved a reputation as a pervert. Still, the sex pictures were the cover used to explain why the Intelligence 100 spent so much time at Internet Cafes. "You're welcome," the waitress said before turning and walking away. Mike turned to the screen and decided to see what was going on with the Chinese researchers that were scattered around the country. The quality of intelligence had really gone down as a result of the President's crusade against the Intelligence Agencies. Many of the entries hadn't been updated in close to a year. He flagged a few individuals and requested that some effort be made to identify what had been happening with them. It was the best that he could do. He sat back and thought about what else he could do. Opening up the e-mail feature, he selected NSA001 as the recipient. As a subject, he wrote, 'Preventive Actions Required.' In the body of the letter, he wrote, 'We must warn everyone in the intelligence business of the actual threat level. If we don't, thousands could die.' With a final click, he submitted the e-mail for delivery. ------- Mike took his family over to his parent's house for dinner. The mood at the table was somber. The wives didn't understand why Mike and Robert weren't talking. Karen decided to get the conversation going and said, "There hasn't been an attack since all of those traitors were arrested." "I know," Robert said. He put down his knife and fork before crossing his arms. He said, "That has me really worried." "Why? Isn't it a good thing?" Louise asked. "There is a reason that things are quiet at the moment," Mike said. He looked over at Karen and his mother. He wondered how much he should tell them. Looking across the table at his father, he could see that the man was wrestling with the same problem. Finally, he said, "Promise me that neither of you will go to any place that is crowded for the next three days." "I promise," Karen said knowing that Mike probably had an idea that something bad was about to happen. "Why?" Louise asked. Robert said, "Don't ask why. Just promise him." Louise started at Robert for a moment and then said, "You two know something. We have the right to know." Robert finally said, "I heard today that the President was considering releasing all of the spies who were caught in the hope that he could appease a couple of foreign governments. He wants to make the point that the CIA is changing and that there won't be a need to implant spies in the future." "That man is a damned coward. He's lying to the American People and won't even raise the threat level to orange," Mike said. He hadn't heard that rumor, but his father should know. After all, there were Marines on duty at the White House. "It should be at Orange?" Karen asked. "No. It should be at Red," Mike answered. Louise said, "I promise I won't go any place where there is a crowd." ------- Chapter 12 Mike sat down at his computer and logged in. Following his normal morning procedure, he opened his e-mail. Much to his surprise, he found that there was a message from root with the title, 'An Important Intelligence Assessment.' He clicked on the message and nearly fell out of his chair when he read the first two lines of it. The email laid out the full intelligence estimate concerning a pending attack against the United States. Details about what groups were active in the states, what messages had been intercepted, and the kinds of activities that might be attempted were presented for all to read. Mike could see his own contributions to the assessment and the thought that others might recognize it sent chills down his spine. It was signed as originating from the leadership of the Intelligence 100. Sanjay stuck his head inside Mike's cubicle. Wide-eyed, he asked, "Did you read the e-mail from root?" "Yes, I did," Mike answered. He looked at the screen and wondered who had signed onto the computer as the administrator and sent out the e-mail under that account. He looked at the message a little more carefully and saw that it was sent out of the White House. Someone at the NSA must have had a little fun during the night. "This is very bad," Sanjay said. He was informed enough to know that the assessment presented was accurate. "Yes, it is," Mike said not referring to the content of the message when he agreed with Sanjay. He thought it was bad that the Intelligence 100 had broken cover. Sanjay said, "I'm going out to the telephone to tell my wife not to go anywhere today." "That's a good idea," Mike said. The rest of the morning was spent listening to rumors about who the Intelligence 100 might be. Mike didn't say a word, but listened as the speculations ran rampant. A few people didn't know that root was the name of the administrative account on UNIX servers. As a result, there were a lot of people speculating that the user name root was significant somehow. ------- The atmosphere in the lunch room was very subdued. The normal distribution of groups was spread out around the room. The Chinese were eating together at a collection of tables. The Indians were eating together at another group of tables. Mike carried his tray past the tables and shook his head. In light of the email, he thought it was very stupid for them to isolate themselves from their coworkers like that. On reaching the table, he sat where he could watch the rest of the room. Sanjay came out of the food service area carrying his tray. He walked past the Indian tables and headed over to the table where Mike was seated. Mike was pleased that Sanjay had decided to break with tradition, but knew it would cost him. When Sanjay put his tray on the table next to Mike, a number of eyes turned to watch. Sanjay sat down and said, "I have decided to join you for lunch today." "That's nice. How'd your wife take the news to stay home?" Mike asked. Sanjay shook his head and said, "She is not very happy. She's been scared for a long time. Now she's terrified." "I know what you mean," Mike said. Another Indian walked by and said something to Sanjay. Mike didn't know what had been said, but the expression on Sanjay's face suggested that it wasn't very nice. Sanjay rose from his chair and turned to face the tables filled with Indians. Furious, he said, "Never speak to me in Gujrati again. I am an American. I sit with my coworker because we are fighting an enemy that wants to kill us! We are brothers in arms in a war against evil men!" The entire room turned to stare at Sanjay. Ignoring the attention he was receiving, he said, "You sit over there thinking you are so great and important. You are not! You are scum who think you are better than Americans. Every American in this room is fighting to save the lives of three hundred million of our fellow citizens and yet you chose to separate yourself from them. I say again, you are scum!" Turning to face the Chinese, Sanjay pointed at them as he said, "You are just as bad. You sit over there speaking Chinese and keeping your words secret from the people with whom you work. Bah! No wonder no one trusts you. You don't even have the decency to talk in English where everyone can understand what you say. "You Arabs over there," Sanjay shouted while pointing at another table, "Either you join the fight against the terrorists or get out of here. You sit together speaking in Arabic while men who look and talk just like you are planning to kill us. You bastards! Are you trying to kill us? I don't know because I can't understand a damned word that you are saying. "We had more than fifty spies taken out of here last week. Where did they sit at lunch? There, there, and there," Sanjay said pointing at the tables. He stood up straight and said, "Why should I trust you? You disdain the men and women who were born in this country. You harbored spies at your tables. For all I know, you are spies! "You might have American citizenship, but you aren't Americans. I know it! Every American in the room knows it! It is time you became a member of this country or go back to where you were born. Join your coworkers at their tables and start earning their trust because you don't have it. Stop speaking foreign languages that allow you to keep secrets from others. If you don't, I promise you that you'll never be trusted in this organization again," Sanjay said. Holding up his sandwich, he said, "Starting today, I am going to eat my American lunch with my American friends. I am an American and I'm proud of it!" As Sanjay went to sit down, the applause started. Within seconds it was deafening. Mike was the first to stand, but others around the room quickly joined him. Sanjay had said what many of them believed. Those individuals seated at the tables at which Sanjay had pointed shifted uncomfortably in their seats. Most of them looked embarrassed. Sanjay looked very embarrassed at the attention, but he appreciated the support. Under his breath, he said, "That was for you Donald." ------- Sanjay pushed the glass of Scotch around on the bar. He ran a finger through the wet spots left by the glass. He said, "I got a little carried away." "No, you said something that needed to be said," Mike replied with a smile. He took a sip of his beer and chuckled thinking back to the stunned faces around the cafeteria. "Do you think I will get suspended?" Sanjay asked worried that his actions were going to get him fired. Donald had been fired for saying even less. Shaking his head, Mike said, "No. I think that those days are over. The guys who were using political correctness to eliminate analysts are gone. I don't think people will react too well if you have any problems." "You reassure me," Sanjay said. He took a sip of his Scotch and chuckled. He said, "My wife is going to be very surprised when I tell her what I did. I may have to spend the night where the dog sleeps." Mike laughed and said, "You mean the doghouse." "Yes, the doghouse. That is where I'll be sleeping tonight." Not having met Sanjay's wife, Mike was convinced that she ruled the house with an iron fist. He said, "Tell her that she doesn't need to worry about your job. You won the respect of hundreds of people today. That's not quite right. You earned their respect today." "Thanks, Mike." "That was a brave thing you did today," Mike said. "I was more angry than brave," Sanjay said. When Utpal had asked him why he was bothering to sit with the Americans, Sanjay had gotten angry. He'd heard a number of the Indians talking about sending their families back home; meaning by that India. It was at that moment when he realized that very few of them considered themselves Americans. "Very few brave acts occur when people are calm and relaxed. It requires a lot of emotion to be brave. Anger is often a great source of emotion that can be channeled to good ends," Mike said looking down at his twisted left hand. He knew all about doing extraordinary things while angry. Thinking about it that way made Sanjay feel a lot better. The conversation changed to topics much less emotional like fishing and barbecues. The conversation died when Mike looked over at the television set playing in the bar. The evening news was on. Splashed across the screen was the caption, 'Spies Freed.' In a sharp voice, Mike said, "Bartender, turn up the sound." Stunned, Mike and Sanjay listened to the news report that the President had released the spies so that they could return to their home countries. The news commentator on the station was talking about what a grand gesture it was and how it would help reduce international tensions. Mike said, "That man is like Nero. He's playing the fiddle while Rome burns." Sanjay said, "My neighbor has a son who has a pet rat. I hate rats very much. They are filthy animals that spread disease. I always tell my neighbor how much I hate his rat. I think that at this moment I like that rat better than the President." The full implications of the President's actions crashed down on Mike. He leaned over and, in a very soft voice, asked, "Do you have a gun?" "No," Sanjay answered looking at Mike with wide eyes. Mike pulled a twenty out of his wallet and put it on the bar. It was more than enough to cover the Scotch and a beer. He said, "Come with me. We need to get home right now." Sanjay followed Mike out of the bar. Mike pulled Sanjay over to his car and opened the trunk. He pulled out a pistol that was wrapped it in a towel. He unwrapped it and checked out the pistol. His twisted hand made it difficult. Handing the package over to Sanjay, he said, "Take this home with you. It is loaded with a round in the chamber, but the safety is on. Don't open the door to anyone unless you know who it is and can trust them. If someone tries to break in, turn the safety off, cock the hammer, and put as much lead into them as possible." "What's the matter?" Sanjay asked staring at the package in his hand. He wasn't sure that he could use the gun. "Chang is out and I know for a fact that he's a killer," Mike answered. Thinking about what would happen if Chang thought he was the one who had turned him in, Sanjay felt sick to his stomach. His forehead broke out in a sweat when he recalled what Chang had shouted from the holding area. He said, "Thank you very much. You are a good friend to think of my safety like this. What about you?" "I've got a gun," Mike said patting his pistol through his sport coat. Sanjay's eyes grew large when he realized the Mike was carrying a pistol under his coat. Ignoring Sanjay's reaction, Mike said, "Go home and take care of yourself and your wife." ------- After calling out to let Karen know that he was at the door, Mike entered the house. There was the barrel of a shotgun pointed in his general direction. Karen was sitting on the couch holding it awkwardly across her body. If she had fired it, she probably would have broken her finger from the recoil, but the person at the door would have been dead. Closing and locking the door behind him, he said, "Good. I was hoping to find you that were ready to protect yourself." With shaking hands, Karen very carefully put the shotgun down on the coffee table. Once it was out of her hands, she broke out into tears. Robert headed over to the coffee table to see what his mother had been holding. Afraid that little Robert would go after the gun; Mike went over and took possession of it. He checked to see if it was loaded and was pleased to find that it was. He carried it into the third room and locked it in the gun cabinet. Returning to Karen, he put an arm around her and hugged her. Sobbing, she said, "I hate this. I heard what the President did this afternoon. I hate him for making me afraid to be alone in my own house." "I know," Mike said patting her on the back. He felt the same way. "Don't go to work tomorrow," Karen said desperately afraid of being left alone again. When Mike had called and told her that Chang was probably free from custody, she had immediately understood the situation. There was no telling who he blamed for getting exposed. Mike frowned at the request. He wondered how many other people were hearing their wives say the same thing to them. He wondered how many of them would show up at work the next day. There was no way that he was going to stand by and let terrorists take control over the country. He said, "I have to go." His comment released a flood of tears. Robert, crawling around on the floor, looked up at his mother and started crying as well. He didn't know what the matter was, but didn't feel happy that his parents were upset. As soon as he started crying Mike grabbed him and set him in his lap. Mike sat there holding his wife and child for the next thirty minutes trying to figure out some solution to that mess. "What are we going to do? I can't live this way," Karen said having cried enough. "I'm going to call up our parents. I think that in this time of crisis that you and our mothers shouldn't be left alone. I'm pretty sure that the Admiral could get you stashed somewhere on one of the Naval Bases around here, but I think you'll be safer at my parent's house," Mike said. Wiping away her tears, Karen said, "That would be good." "The Colonel might even be able to arrange for a Marine Guard," Mike said, "I'm pretty sure that the Admiral can make sure of that." "That would be even better," Karen said taking Robert from Mike's arms. The little tyke was hungry and started to cry. Seeing that he was trying to nurse through her shirt, it didn't take long before she was nursing. The act calmed her down almost immediately. Mike went to the telephone and started making calls. All of the arrangements had been made when there was a knock on the door. Karen screamed and headed towards the third bedroom taking Robert with her. Mike went to the door and looked through the peephole. He opened the door and stepped back while saying, "Come in, Bob." Looking at the pistol in Mike's hand, Bob swallowed and entered the house. He said, "I don't know what government agency you work for, but I do know that you know a lot about what is going on. My wife is afraid that all those spies that were released are going to attack us. Can you tell me what to do?" Mike looked at Bob wondering how much to tell him. Finally, he said, "I can't tell you everything that is going on. The best advice that I can give you is to stay away from crowded areas for the next few days. Don't go out any more than you must." "Why do you have a gun?" Bob asked looking down at the pistol in Mike's hand. "One of the men released may blame me and another of my coworkers for his capture. I'm just making sure that I'm ready if he decides to take action. He won't go after you or your family. If you see anything strange, just call the police and stay indoors," Mike answered. "Shit," Bob said. At that moment he rather wished the loud renters who had lived there were still here. "I'm sorry about that," Mike said. The telephone rang adding to the general level of confusion in the household. Rolling his eyes, Mike said, "Hold on for a minute." Answering the telephone with his bad hand, Mike listened as Dale said, "I thought you might want to know that our mutual friend Chang is on board of a plane headed for China." "That's good," Mike said feeling a wave of relief flow over him. He slid the gun into his holster and transferred the phone to his good hand. "That's bad. Every one of those bastards is fleeing the country. Half of the staffs at their embassies have gone with them," Dale said. "That's bad," Mike said. They weren't fleeing the country because they were afraid of getting prosecuted as spies. "It gets worse. Every embassy party has been canceled for the next two weeks," Dale said. "That's real bad," Mike said. It appeared that the email sent out by the Intelligence 100 had made its way to the embassies. He said, "It looks like they are taking the situation much more seriously than the President." "The President truly believes that releasing the spies is going to convince their governments to help in halting the terrorist attacks," Dale said. "That man is a fool," Mike said. He could just imagine the Iranians dancing in their offices at the news. "Watch the television if you want to understand just how bad it is," Dale said. "I will," Mike said. "I better go now," Dale said. Mike said, "I'd appreciate it if you'd call Sanjay and let him know. I sent him home with a gun just in case Chang decided to show up there." "Good thinking. I'll give him a call now. I was really impressed by his little speech this afternoon," Dale said. After hanging up the phone, Mike turned to face Bob. He raised a hand and said, "Let me get my wife. She'll want to hear this too." "Okay," Bob said. He didn't think that the conversation over the phone sounded all that positive. There were a lot more utterance of 'that's bad, ' than 'that's good.' At the door of the third bedroom, Mike called out, "Come on out, Karen. I've got good news." Karen came out of the room looking very pensive and held Robert tightly in her arms. She asked, "What is it?" "Chang is on board an airplane and headed to China," Mike answered. Karen visibly relaxed. Bob figured out that was the man that had Mike so worried. He relaxed as well. Karen said, "That's the first piece of good news that I've heard all day." Mike smiled at how Karen had cheered up as a result of the news. He said, "There was a bit of bad news, too." "What?" Karen asked. "Everyone is leaving Washington. Embassies are pulling out their people," Mike answered. He said, "The rumor is that everyone expects something to happen soon. We don't know what it is, but it is going to be big. I wouldn't worry about it. We aren't targets living out here. The terrorists are going to be going after big very visible targets, not residential neighborhoods." Bob stared at Mike and asked, "Are you some sort of secret agent?" Laughing at the image of him being a one-handed version of James Bond, Mike answered, "No. I'm just well connected." Karen shifted the baby in her arms and said, "That does make me feel better." "I'm still going to ask that you and Robert stay at my parent's house. I've got a feeling that I'm going to be busy. I'm pretty sure that the Admiral is going to be busy as well," Mike said. He said, "When I talked to your mom earlier, she said that they were moving the fleet offshore. She actually sounded a little relieved at the idea of staying with my parents." "That makes sense. I bet they've got ships offshore of DC and New York City," Bob said thinking about the New Years Day Massacre. Mike wished he had access to the current distribution of military assets. He knew that he could probably get the information at the Internet Café, but there was too much to do. He said, "Karen, you should probably pack up your stuff so that I can take you to my parent's house." "Okay," she said. Bob looked around and said, "I guess I should head home. I'm sorry to have bothered you." "It was no bother," Mike said as he showed Bob to the door. Before opening the door, he said, "Remember. Stay around the house and avoid crowds. Don't go into DC." "Right," Bob said, "Thanks a lot. You've actually made me feel better." Once Bob left, Mike turned on the television to the news. The reporters were covering the activities taking place at major airports around the country. It looked like mass chaos as people were lined up to buy tickets to flee the country. It didn't seem to matter which country they headed to; they just wanted to get out of this one. The talking head on the news channel then started to discuss the mysterious memo sent out by a fanatical group called the Intelligence 100. Mike chuckled at hearing himself described as a member of a fanatical group. The White House was blaming the current panic on the actions of this group and promised to investigate the matter fully. Mike wondered why the reporters didn't bother to comment on the fact that the President was staying at Camp David. ------- Chapter 13 Dale walked into the work area and looked around. The only ones present were Mike and Sanjay. Shaking his head, he said, "Somehow, I'm not surprised to see the two of you here hard at work." Sanjay frowned and asked, "Where else would we be? We are in the middle of the biggest crisis in the history of this country. People are counting on us." It was nice to hear Sanjay say that. Dale said, "We've been hit with a real bad case of fear flu. Almost ten percent of our people didn't show up to work today." "That sucks," Mike said. "I thought it was a little to easy to find a parking space today," Sanjay said with a sad smile. He was very disappointed by the behavior of his coworkers. Nodding his head, Dale said, "On top of that, we suspended a bunch of agents this morning." Surprised by that little piece of news, Mike looked up and asked, "Why?" "The Assistant Director decided that employees of the agency who were sending their families overseas couldn't be trusted with our national security. If they weren't willing to face the risks like everyone else, then they didn't belong in the agency," Dale answered. "Good for him," Sanjay said with a nod of his head. "I'll let him know you said that," Dale said with a smile. The Assistant Director had actually caught the end of Sanjay's speech in the cafeteria the previous day. The sentiment that Sanjay had expressed had struck fertile soil. "No need," Sanjay said blushing. Laughing at Sanjay's reaction, Dale said, "I want the two of you to join the emergency task force that is meeting in the executive conference room upstairs. You two are to help plan how we're going to operate in case our facility becomes isolated as a result of terrorist actions." "What do you mean?" Sanjay asked. Dale answered, "Circumstances may make it difficult for people to show up here. Don't forget that we've lost employees trying to get to work when some bastard shot people turning into the entrance. We may have to ask people to show up to alternative locations in order to keep them safe." ------- It was a very diverse group of people who met in the executive conference room to discuss how to recover capabilities in the event that the worst possible scenario occurred. There were representatives from every major intelligence organization in the area. Mike recognized more than one member of the Intelligence 100 in the room. The discussion centered on one topic from the very beginning of the meeting. It wasn't how to reopen the facility. It was how to achieve access to intelligence information in the event they were unable to get access to the buildings. It was not only the CIA that was worried about that problem. The NSA, FBI, and people from the Pentagon were just as worried. Visions of planes flying into the Pentagon were not too far from the minds of everyone in the room. Mike and Tim Brown sat off to the side listening to the discussion. Having learned that the servers used by the Intelligence 100 were in a vault underground a hundred miles away, Mike leaned over and whispered, "What about the internet cafes?" "That's a good idea," Tim said. He listened to the discussion for a bit. Tim leaned over and whispered, "I'm going to leave here and set it up. We've got fifty secure cafes in the area and each one has over twenty computers. I'll see about setting up an automated notification system that will send a thousand of our people from the various agencies to them. Cover for me." "Okay," Mike answered. "Don't say anything about it. I'll be back in an hour," Tim said. He wanted to set up a secondary plan in case the primary plan fell through for some reason. "Good," Mike said. He whispered, "How about I suggest that we just take over the computing facilities of some of the local universities?" "That'll be perfect," Tim said. Mike waited until Tim had left the room. Leaning forward, he said, "Here's what we need to do. We'll plan on taking over the computer labs in all of the high schools, colleges, and universities in the area. I know that moving our operations into residential areas is not the best idea. However, if things get so bad that we have to use that option I think it won't be an issue. We can make arrangements with the NSA to engineer secure access to the information. It might not be the most secure solution, but when the shit hits the fan I don't think that is going to be an issue." With his head wobbling, Sanjay said, "That is a very good idea. All schools have at least one classroom filled with computers. I bet we could find at least five thousand seats at the various schools in the area." Mike sat back and listened to the discussion flow around the room. He didn't even notice when Tim took a seat next to him. When the group broke for a fifteen minute bathroom break, Tim leaned over and whispered, "It's all set up." "Good. They've been identifying schools in the area with sufficient computer resources to host five thousand of us. I figure that the law enforcement groups should be sent there," Mike said. Joining the meeting, Jack Lancer came over to them and said, "Tim, the role call is all set up. We're going to confiscate another fifty internet cafes in the surrounding areas. There will be one of us in each place taking charge. We'll have a mixture of agents from different agencies at each location. There won't be any problems sharing information because we'll all be co-located." Mike didn't need to ask who would be put in charge. It was going to be the Intelligence 100. Smiling, he said, "Semper Fi." "OohRah," Tim said with a smile. "OohRah," Jack said with a frown. Shaking his head, he said, "I just hope to God that we never need to do that." ------- By two in the afternoon, the executive conference room looked like a disaster area. Lunch had been brought in and there were dirty plates stacked on one of the cabinets at the end of the room. Papers were scattered over the table. Cups half filled with cold coffee fought for space in the center of the table. The men inside the room looked disheveled and tired. The meeting was about to break up when there was a huge noise and a general tremor of the building floor. Everyone looked around wondering what was happening. The image of a canister flying into the building at supersonic speeds spilling some toxic material flashed through Mike's mind. He jumped up and went over to the cabinets on which the dirty plates had been stacked. He grabbed the cloth napkins and started handing them out. He shouted, "Everyone get one of these and put it over your mouth and nose." "Why?" one of the men asked heading towards the door. He wanted out of there and he wanted out right then. Jack moved to the door and blocked it before the man made it there. Jack shouted, "Sit down everyone." There was another shudder in the building along with a loud bang. Mike said, "We may have just been hit with that rail gun weapon you've all heard so much about. The dust in the air could kill you. So far there's no dust flying into this room. Put on the napkin like you've seen the cowboys wear their bandanas during dust storms in those old westerns and make your way out of the building. Don't get excited. Keep breathing through the napkin." As the group slowly made their way down the stairs and towards the exit, it was like walking into a dust storm. There were places where the dust was so thick that it was nearly impossible to see. Eyes burned as particulates scratched the sensitive surface of the eye. Mike wished that he had goggles, but he'd live with irritated eyes if it meant living. The noise was almost deafening. Fire alarms were ringing. The radiation alarms were sounding. People were running to and fro screaming and shouting instructions. A woman who worked in the cafeteria was standing by the door shouting that the world was ending. Later, Mike would remember thinking that the world had indeed ended for that woman. He didn't know what was in the dust, but all that screaming must have brought it deep into her lungs. He ran into a woman who was holding her shirt up over her face. Half of her bra was exposed. There was a rather large Caesarian scar that ran down her abdomen. He had no idea who she was, but thought she was at least smart enough to try to cover her face. Who cared about exposing a little skin when that was the difference between life and death? He hoped she made it through that alive. A man was seated on the ground crying. Mike couldn't see his face, but he wondered how someone could give up like that. When Sanjay went over to help the man, Mike shook his head. He pointed towards the exit hoping that Sanjay would go with him. Holding the mask against his face, Sanjay went over to Mike and asked, "Why shouldn't I help him?" His words were muffled, but Mike understood. Holding his mask tight against his face, he answered, "If the air is bad, he's already dead. If it isn't, then they'll get him out later." "Okay," Sanjay said thinking that Mike must have veins filled with ice water to think through things in such a situation. The crowd following Mike seemed to grow with each step they took. Some folks who weren't wearing masks decided that after seeing Mike and his group to hold their shirts over their faces. Mike tried to prevent them from doing it, but many of them did it anyway. They didn't realize that they were putting the dusty side of their shirts right against their mouths and nose. By the time the group made their way outside it had grown to almost a hundred people. Once there, Mike held his mask against his face and shouted, "Don't remove your masks. Everything could be contaminated. Move upwind of the building and wait for the Hazmat teams. Don't move around too much or else you'll just spread the radioactive material in your area. Don't go back in the building for any reason. Don't eat or drink anything. You've got to get decontaminated before you put anything near your mouth or nose." One of the men who had joined the group said, "My car is right over there. I can be at home in half an hour. I'll take a shower there." "You will contaminate your entire home. Do you want to kill your family?" Mike asked unable to believe what he was hearing. Looking in the parking lot, he saw people driving away. Shaking his head, he said, "This is a cluster fuck." A couple of the men went to their cars anyway. Mike didn't recognize any of them. After watching people walk off to return home, Mike and Sanjay tried to get the people around them to calm down and sit in one place. Tim arrived and asked, "Have you seen Dale?" "No, I haven't," Mike said. He looked around at the people around him. They were covered in dust. Most of them hadn't bothered to cover their mouths. Shaking his head, he said, "This is bad. We've got to get people clean." The sounds of sirens rent the air. It sounded like a thousand police cars were on the way there. Sanjay said, "Some one needs to tell them about the fact that the dust is contaminated." Thinking he could look for Dale at the same time, Tim said, "I'll do that." "I can do that," Sanjay said wanting to do something to help. "Stay here and help Mike. The people here trust you two," Tim said. He turned and walked towards the street leading to the front of the building. He planned to plant himself in the center of the road and wave his arms in an attempt to stop anyone driving towards the building. Working together, Mike and Sanjay got most of the people settled. Sanjay managed to identify a couple of people with commonsense who were rather strong personalities. They put those people in charge of the others and sat back to take a break. About an hour after they had evacuated the building, Sanjay pointed to a figure stumbling out of the building. The man was the size and shape of their boss. He asked, "Is that Dale?" "It looks like him. Let's go," Mike said heading in the direction of the building. Sanjay followed him towards the fallen figure just outside the building. They reached the man only to discover that he wasn't Dale. The man looked to be in pretty bad shape. He was bleeding from several small cuts around his face and arms. His face had a purplish hue to it like it was one huge bruise. Despite the fact that the sound of an alarm blaring overhead made it very difficult to hear, Mike knelt down and asked, "What happened to you?" "I was in the room when it exploded," the man answered. Mike was barely able to make out the answer. The man's voice was weak and the alarms were loud. Mike checked the man over. He was busted up pretty badly. There were definitely broken ribs, but the rest of the man's bones appeared to be whole. There was a huge purple bruise across the man's stomach that suggested internal bleeding. There wasn't much that Mike could do for the man. Turning to Sanjay, he said, "Let's get him away from the building." "Okay," Sanjay said. He wondered why Mike would bother with this man and not the one who was crying in the hallway. Thinking about it he realized that there was one fundamental difference; this man was wounded and the other wasn't. The two men carried the wounded man halfway from the building to where the crowd was waiting. The noise of the alarms was distant enough that he could hear. Feeling like his left hand was about to give out on him, Mike said, "Let's set him down here." "Okay," Sanjay replied. Once the man was on the ground, Mike knelt beside him and asked, "Was it a bomb?" "I don't think so. It was a thud kind of explosion and not a boom," the man answered. He started coughing. A grimace crossed his face as the ends of broken ribs ground against each other. After hacking for a minute, the man's head fell back. It appeared to Mike that the man had lost consciousness from the pain. Mike looked across at Sanjay and said, "I'm pretty sure that we were hit by the rail gun. As far as I can tell, we were hit twice. There might have been a third time while we were in the stairwell, but I'm not sure. I heard the radiation warning alarms while we were getting out of the building." "You were smart to insist on the masks," Sanjay said. He decided that sticking by Mike was a good recipe for survival. "There's not much that we can do for this fellow. My first aid ends at stopping bleeding and stabilizing broken bones. His wounds appear to be minor, but he's acting a lot worse than the wounds would suggest. I'm afraid that he's suffered some internal damage. I wanted to get him away from the building to where we could talk. He's injured and can't move by himself," Mike said. "Ah, I understand," Sanjay said wobbling his head from side to side. "Do you want to stay here with him while I try to find someone to stay here with him or would you rather go?" Mike asked. Sanjay looked over at the crowd of people they had left. Shaking his head, he said, "I'd rather we both just stayed here." Mike looked over at the crowd and shook his head. People were dusting themselves off and wiping their faces with their dirty shirts. Nodding his head, he said, "I think I agree with you. Let's carry him over towards the road where we won't be down wind of those jokers over there." "That sounds good to me, Mike." The pair of men carried the wounded man a hundred yards away before setting him back on the ground. It was an hour before Tim showed up and joined them. Shaking his head, he said, "This is a disaster." "You can say that again," Mike said. Sanjay said, "I like how Mike describes it better. He calls it a cluster fuck." Tim laughed at the comment and said, "I think you are right, Sanjay. That is a much better description." The man on the ground moaned. His eyes fluttered open. Looking at Tim, he asked, "Where am I?" "You're in the lawn. We're waiting for the Hazmat teams to come. They'll clean you up and then an ambulance will take you to the hospital," Tim answered. The man shook his head and said, "You men take care of yourselves. I'm a goner and I know it. Something is busted up inside me. I can feel it." Mike said, "Friend, we're here to stay. You just hang on and we'll get through this." "Thanks," said the man before closing his eyes. From their vantage point, they could watch the police, firemen, and ambulances assemble at the entrance of the drive to the original CIA building. Without Hazmat to move in first, the people were just standing around and waiting. Sanjay asked, "What's going to happen to us?" "We'll sit here for a while until the Hazmat teams show up. They'll have us strip off our clothes and line up to get washed. They'll probably wash us with a solution of bleach and water because they don't know what is in this dust. We'll get some weird paper clothes or something. Maybe they'll let us keep our keys so that we can drive home," Mike answered. "What about our work?" Sanjay asked. He gestured to the building and said, "There's no way anything inside that building will be removed for years. We didn't finish the plans for relocating. Even if we had, all of that material is back in the building." Tim said, "We had a backup plan in place." Sanjay noticed a figure coming in their direction. Pointing at it, he asked, "Who is that?" "Looks like Jack Lancer," Tim answered. Seeing the blank look on Sanjay's face, Mike said, "He's from the NSA and had just arrived at our meeting when the shit hit the fan." Jack came over and knelt down next to the man on the ground. Shaking his head, he said, "Damn. Is he okay?" Mike shook his head and said, "I don't know. It doesn't look good. He said earlier that something inside was broken. Do you know him?" "Yes. That's Mark Young from over at the FBI. He's one of the Intelligence 100," Jack answered. "Damn," Tim said shaking his head. "We lost three others of the team," Jack said glancing at Sanjay when he said it. He'd been busy walking around finding out what had happened to people. The individuals on the team had all responded to the crisis in an exemplary fashion. Everyone had covered their mouths and noses. They had all moved upwind of the building. They had all lead others out of the building. "How?" Mike asked. "From what I understand, they were all together when the room exploded. Two of them died on the spot. The third lived long enough to tell me what happened. I think Mark had just entered the room," Jack said. "Does anyone have good news?" Tim asked. "We have a new member of the team," Jack said. Mike asked, "Who?" "This guy here," Jack said pointing to Sanjay. Sitting down, he said, "I pretty sure that he doesn't fit the entrance requirements, but I don't think the two of you would have kept him around if he wasn't competent and trustworthy. After this mess, those two qualities are going to be in short supply. The smart ones will head for the hills." Mike looked over at Sanjay and said, "Welcome to the Intelligence 100, Sanjay." Sanjay was speechless. After several false starts, he said, "Thank you." Tim laughed and said, "And here I thought you were an elegant public speaker." "Ah, he's the one," Jack said laughing. On seeing Sanjay's reaction to his comment, he added, "I heard about your little speech. It does my heart good to hear about someone standing up in public and saying that he's proud to be an American." "It doesn't happen often enough," Mike said shaking his head. Mark started coughing. It sounded pretty bad. All of a sudden Mark arched his back and then slumped to the ground. Mike reached over to fell for a pulse. He couldn't find one. Shaking his head, he said, "He didn't make it." ------- The sun had set hours earlier and the four men were still sitting around waiting to be decontaminated. There was a line of people waiting to strip and get washed. The four men had decided to remain separate from the others although they had moved a ways from Mark's body. Too many of the other people were patting themselves off and distributing the dust everywhere they went. Mike, Tim, Jack, and Sanjay were still wearing the masks. They didn't know if the masks were helping, but they definitely weren't hurting. It was hard to keep from reaching up under the mask. It seemed that all of their noses demanded to be scratched. Lying on his back and watching the night sky, Mike asked, "How long before they are ready for us?" "I have no idea. Personally, I'm just as happy sitting here doing nothing. I've got a feeling that we're going to be busier than one armed paper hangers over the next few years," Jack answered. "I wonder what's happening with the President," Mike said looking down at his useless left hand knowing that he'd never be hanging wallpaper. "Oh, he's probably giving some speech about how we need to have a restrained response to this attack," Tim answered with a snort. "I like Edgar much more than the President," Sanjay said earning puzzled looks from the other three men. "Who is Edgar?" Tim asked. "Edgar is my neighbor's rat. I hate rats," Sanjay said provoking a round of laughter from everyone. ------- Chapter 14 It was nearly three in the morning before Mike finished with the decontamination process. The decontamination process had been humiliating. He had been required to strip completely naked because any clothes, even underwear, could harbor radioactive dust. He had stripped before removing his mask. The scrub brushes had stiff bristles that hurt when applied vigorously and they had been applied very vigorously. The water was cold despite the summer heat. After decontamination, he went over to medical where they checked him for radiation. The man with the Geiger counter kept running it over him and fiddling with the knob. After a minute of that, he said, "This must be busted. You've got the lowest levels I've measured all night." "I put on a mask right after the first hit. I never removed it," Mike said. "Smart. I've been reading high levels of radiation in the chest area all night. That means that people's lungs are filled with that crap and we can't get it out. Hopefully they'll cough it out over the next couple of days," the man said. He handed Mike a bottle of pills and said, "Take one of these twice a day until the bottle is empty. It should prevent some damage from radiation." "Thanks," Mike said grabbing the bottle. He looked around and asked, "Have you got any water? I haven't had a drink since the explosion." "You're real smart. There were some folks that went in and got soft drinks thinking that the liquid inside was safe. The problem is the dust on the outside. They pop the top with their dirty hands and then drink the soda. God only knows how much radiation they swallowed. We actually had an idiot that went back into the building and drank out of a water fountain," the man said shaking his head. Mike grimaced at the idea of what that would have done. He asked, "So do you have water?" "After you get through the next station there's a Salvation Army truck. They'll fix you up with everything you want," the man said. Mike said, "We saw a lot of people doing some pretty stupid things. How bad has it been?" "The folks that were right at the location of blast aren't in too good of a shape, but it could have been worse. There wasn't actually that much material so people who were even halfway cautious should survive it. I imagine that there'll be an increased cancer rate among everyone here, myself included. The ones who were really stupid won't be around for long," the man said. "That's about what I figured," Mike said biting his lower lip. He thought about the men who had just driven off. They had no idea that they were going to be breathing that dust for the rest of their short lives. "We ran out of clothes a couple of hours ago. One of the cops broke into one of the local stores and liberated a bunch of bathrobes. We ran out of those a little while ago. I'm afraid that you're going to have to wear a sheet," the man said pointing over at pile of sheets. "Hey, just so long as I can get home," Mike said going over to the sheets. He picked up one and looked at it for a minute. It was huge and he'd probably trip on it if he wrapped it around himself. He asked, "You got a knife?" "What do you need it for?" "I want to cut a hole in the sheet so that I can wear it home," Mike answered thinking there had been a time when he would have had his trusty pocket knife with him. Those days were long gone as a result of the increased security in public buildings. The man tossed Mike a knife and turned to take care of Tim. Mike cut a strip off the sheet and then cut a hole for his head. He put the sheet on like it was a poncho and tied it closed with the belt he had made. He posed in front of Tim and said, "I never did figure out how to wear a toga." Tim laughed at the comment. He rubbed his mouth and said, "I'm so glad to get rid of that mask. I swear that my teeth were itching." Mike went over to the next station and waited for the person there to finish with the person ahead of him. It was a short wait since everything the man had carried with him was contaminated. When it was his turn, the man asked, "Are you Bowman?" "Yes," Mike answered. The man held up a plastic bag and said, "You were smart and didn't put your hands in your pockets. Your keys, coins, and wallet came through okay." "I'm glad to hear that," Mike said. He hadn't even thought of protecting the items in his pockets having assumed that they were history. "We've got a couple of cell phones over there if you need to call someone to let them know that you're okay. We aren't releasing any of the cars from the parking lot until we've checked them out for radiation. If you can't get a ride home, we've rounded up some volunteers. While you're waiting, the Salvation Army has a wagon over there. They'll give you some food and something to drink," the man said handing Mike his possessions. ------- "Hello, Karen." "Oh, Mike! Are you okay? I've been so worried about you," Karen said. The voice of his wife over the phone lifted his spirits. "I'm fine. I just got through decontamination," Mike said. He took another sip from the bottle of water. There was a long pause on the other end of the phone. Finally, Karen said, "Your father is over at our house. I think you should stay there with him for the next couple of days." "What happened to him?" Mike asked getting concerned. "They hit the Pentagon, too," Karen answered. "Is he okay?" Mike asked. He hadn't heard about any other places getting hit, but it made sense that there were other places. The Pentagon was a high value target. "He was contaminated too," Karen answered. She was silent for several seconds and then said, "We think that you should stay away for a couple of days. I don't want any contamination around the baby." Surprised, Mike was about to object, but realized the folly of doing so. After all, Karen was watching out for the health of this son. He said, "Okay. I'll go to the house and keep my father company. I'll call you in the morning." Karen gave a weak laugh and said, "It is morning." "Oh, yeah." ------- It was seven in the morning and the four men were still waiting to get home. The pool of volunteer drivers had disappeared long before the time they had finished getting through the process. Sanjay's wife had finally showed up to get Sanjay and the couple was going to give Mike a ride home. Jack and Tim were going to be picked up by their wives. "Sanjay," Jack called out. "What?" Sanjay asked with irritation evident in his voice. He was tired and feeling rather cranky. All he wanted to do was get to bed. Jack walked over and said, "Remember that your membership in the Intelligence 100 is classified. The only ones with a need to know are others in the group." "Okay," Sanjay said. "We don't even talk about it among ourselves," Jack said. "Yes, sir. I won't say a word about it," Sanjay said. Nodding his head, Jack said, "I'll be by your house tomorrow to fill you in on the details that you need to know in order to contribute." "Thank you," Sanjay said. The men parted with Mike getting into the rear seat of the car. Sanjay's wife was a surprise. Mike had been expecting her to be an Indian woman, but she was actually Asian. Sanjay said, "Mike, this is my wife Teva. Teva, this is Mike Bowman." The tiny woman turned in her seat and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you, Mike Bowman. Sanjay has told me much about you." "I'm sure that anything good he said about me was a lie," Mike said with a smile. ------- Mike walked up to the door of the Internet Café near his home. The atmosphere was very different than his normal visits in the past. For one thing, there were two Marines guarding the door. One of them looked at Mike as he approached and said, "They're closed today." "I'm Mike Bowman." "Sorry Dr. Bowman. I need to see some ID," the Marine said. After Mike opened his wallet and showed his CIA identification, the guard said, "Go on in, sir." "Thank you," Mike said. He entered the building and looked around at the men and women seated there. Joe, wearing a Marine uniform, snapped to attention. He didn't salute since Mike was a civilian. In a loud voice, he announced, "Mike Bowman, I'm glad to see that you survived the attack." The waitress stared at Joe wondering what was happening. She had appeared at work that morning and had been admitted by the two Marines at the front door. She was floored when everyone else in the place turned to look at Mike. She thought of him as Pervert John. One of the men turned to another one there and said, "I heard that he led a hundred people out of the building and held vigil with a dying man." "It was closer to twenty-five," Mike said overhearing the comment. He didn't count the others who had followed them out. "He was the one who predicted the attacks," another man said to the person at the next table. One of the people asked, "Are you one of the Intelligence 100?" Mike ignored the question and said, "I'd like everyone here to introduce themselves. We're going to be working here for a long time and it would be best if we can call each other by name rather than 'Hey you.' I'm Mike Bowman from the CIA and supposedly I'm the supervisor here." Joe said, "I'm Master Gunnery Sergeant Joe Dinkins from the United States Marine Corp. I'm in charge of security here." "I'm Jim Donnelley from Naval Intelligence." "I'm Harold McKinsey from the FBI anti-terrorism task force." "I'm Shirley Holbrook from the CIA anti-terrorism task force." "I'm Jack McElroy. I work for the FBI in the Organized Crimes division." The introductions continued until the only one who hadn't identified herself was the waitress. After hearing all of the alphabet soup agencies, she wasn't really in a condition to know what to say. When all eyes turned to her, Joe said, "The young lady is Cathy Connor and she is the only real employee of this Internet Cafe. If you need anything, she'll bring it to you." Feeling more than a little overwhelmed, Cathy gave a little wave of her hand. She was definitely confused by the activity going on around her. She did manage to squeak out a simple, "Hello." Mike said, "As you know, two days ago we were attacked by terrorists supported by Iran. They used rail guns to launch canisters containing radioactive material into the CIA building, the NSA building, and the Pentagon in a concerted effort to eliminate our ability to wage war. Although the individuals involved in the attack were members of Hezbollah, Iran was in charge of the entire mission. "According to the results from tests on captured canisters, it appears that the material came from a canister of abandoned radioactive waste from some laboratory that was probably shut down in the 1950s. That's a hypothesis only, but the materials are consistent with it. Investigators from the ATF and FBI are working around the clock to identify where the terrorists found it. Odds are good that they were discovered in a trash dump somewhere. That is not our problem although it is good to know what kind of materials with which we're dealing." Mike walked around to the coffee machine. After mentally debating whether he should interrupt his speech to pour a cup of coffee or not, he said, "We do know the following facts. There were originally ten of these devices built here in the states. We have not identified where they were constructed. Pennsylvania State troopers found one of them after a gunfight with terrorists several weeks ago. Capitol police captured another three of them before they were able to launch at the White House and the Capital Building. Two more were captured outside the CIA and NSA locations. Two were captured outside of the Pentagon; one before the attack and one after the attack. That means that there are two rail guns that haven't been found." Pausing for effect, Mike said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've been tasked with locating the last two rail guns. Are there any questions?" "Have we learned anything from the people who were caught?" Jack Elroy asked. Mike frowned and said, "No. They asked for and received lawyers. Members of that fine profession have taken their cases. There will be no advanced interrogation methods allowed because it strips them of their dignity and violates their civil rights. On the basis of their lawyers' advice, they have insisted on their rights to remain silent." "That sucks," Cathy blurted out. Everyone in the room chuckled at her reaction. Embarrassed she looked around for something to do and noticed Mike eyeing the coffee. She went over to pour a cup of coffee for him and decided that everyone could probably use a cup. "I agree with you, Cathy. That sucks, but the President has insisted that all legal formalities be followed. We are supposed to follow legal due process in obtaining evidence. There will be no short cuts allowed. A prosecutor from the Denver office of the Attorney General is flying here to provide legal advice," Mike said accepting the cup of coffee from Cathy. The prosecutor was one of the few who held a security clearance high enough to sit in the office. He was going to be running from Internet Café to Internet Café working hard. Cathy moved around the room filling coffee cups while the question and answer session continued. Finally, one of the analysts in the room asked, "All of our databases are inside contaminated buildings. How are we supposed to do our jobs?" Mike smiled and said, "We have access to a back up source of intelligence data. You'll find that when you log into your machines that you'll have access to far more data than you've ever had before. All of the normal compartmentalization of data has been suspended during this crisis, so you'll have access to information that will blow your socks off." From his location at the counter, Joe said, "There is one thing that you'll need to know. One of the security features built into the software is to show a pornographic picture if two or more people are at a machine. It's tied into the monitoring cameras overhead and I don't know how to disable it. We're waiting for one of the NSA folks to come by and disable that feature." A number of eyes all turned to look at Joe. One of the men said, "It sounds good to me. Any of you guys are welcome to look over my shoulder anytime the mood strikes you." As one of three women in the room, Shirley rolled her eyes at the chuckles from the men in the room. She said, "I'm stuck in a room full of testosterone." Cathy turned to stare at Mike as she realized what Joe was saying. She realized that Mike wasn't Pervert John. He had been doing something entirely different all of the times he had been in the Internet Cafe. She was about to say something when Joe shook his head. Deciding that she didn't want to lose this job now that it had gotten very interesting, she closed her mouth and poured coffee. Joe said, "Cathy, when you are finished there, I'd appreciate it if you joined me in my office." "Yes, Joe," Cathy said hoping that she wasn't about to lose her job. She didn't know that she was about to be informed that a full background investigation had been performed on her and she was being given a security clearance. ------- Mike returned home late at night. Three days had passed since the attack and Karen was still living at his parent's house. Robert was seated on the couch watching the news when he entered the house. Mike asked, "So what's going on in the world?" "I should be asking you that question," Robert answered. "I've been busy with other things." Robert turned off the television and said, "I've got a pot of chili cooking in the kitchen. I thought you might appreciate something hot. We can talk while we eat." "Thanks. We've been eating donuts and cold sandwiches at the Internet Café," Mike said heading to the kitchen. His father followed him into the kitchen and got two bowls from the cupboard. Handing one of the bowls to Mike, he said, "I talked to Louise. She said that Karen is considering returning home. She figures if we haven't died from radiation poisoning yet that we can't kill little Robert." "I don't blame her for being worried. It is the life of our son that she's worried about," Mike said shrugging his shoulders. He filled his father's bowl with chili. "It's good that you understand. I'm sorry, but mothers tend to worry about their children. I really wish that I was sleeping in my own bed," Robert said carrying his bowl over to the table. "What's going on in the Pentagon?" Mike asked while filling his bowl with chili. It smelled pretty good. He grabbed the package of saltines on his way over to the table. "They opened up some more of the building for use. It's a big building and the amount of material was small. All that's closed off now are the floors that were hit and the floors above and below them. The closed areas extended just along the hallway about two hundred yards in each direction from the impact site," Robert answered. People were avoiding getting even close to those areas. He didn't blame them. "That's good. I heard that the original CIA building is a total loss. It was hit three times and folks spread the radioactive materials around. They might be able to restore part of the NSA building," Mike said crumbling saltines in his chili. Robert said, "I never thought I would see the day when our intelligence agencies were directly attacked. Even the Russians never threatened to do that, much less try to do it." "We knew it was coming. I've got a feeling that things are only going to get worse before they get better," Mike said. Shaking his head, Robert said, "The universities have all shut down. Students are being sent home." "Why?" Mike asked. He hadn't heard anything about that. Of course, his day had been spent trying to find two missing rail guns. "This morning three different universities were attacked. Terrorists roamed the hallways shooting students. Witnesses reported that the killers were shouting 'Death to the Infidels.' The death toll is well over a thousand," Robert said. "Shit." "Muslims are being killed in the streets and it looks like law enforcement is not able to control the situation. According to the news, over fifty thousand of them have been killed since the year began. Late this afternoon, New York, California, and Georgia activated the National Guard because of riots in New York City, Los Angeles, and Atlanta. We're on the verge of collapse," Robert said. Mike shook his head and wondered what was going to happen next. He asked, "Is the National Guard armed?" "You bet," Robert said. The pair of men ate a little of their chili thinking their own thoughts. Mike was wondering what kind of world his son was going to inherit. Robert was wondering how long it would take people to get used to the new status quo. Robert gestured at the television and asked, "Would you like to hear something strange that was on television and no one even noticed just how significant it was?" "Sure," Mike answered. "The airlines have tripled the number of flights between here and the Middle East because of the number of people wanting to leave," Robert said. He paused significantly and looked at Mike waiting for him to make a comment. "What's so strange about that?" Mike asked, "If I was in some foreign country and people like me were getting killed, I'd be heading home too." "The strange part is that the planes are just as full coming back," Robert said. "Oh, God. And we can't detain them for questioning because the ACLU won the case against Homeland Security for profiling," Mike said shaking his head. Each plane out was bringing another batch of terrorists back with it. The country was getting flooded with terrorists and no one could do anything about it. "That's right. For every Muslim we want to investigate at the airport, we have to investigate a Swedish granny, an English nanny, a German engineer, an Italian porn star, and a Japanese businessman," Robert said. That was only half of the story. He smiled and said, "It gets worse." "What?" Mike asked wondering how it could get much worse. Robert said, "The travel agents over in a couple of those countries can issue entrance visas without having to go through our embassy. There's no mechanism for us to even find out who is coming here until they are actually on the plane. Our embassy never sees them." "Where did you hear about this?" Mike asked. "You forget that Marines guard our embassies," Robert answered. ------- Chapter 15 A week after the destruction of the original CIA building, Karen moved back to the house with Robert. While she may have been the one insisting on Mike staying away, she had been just as miserable with the separation. She had missed his calm confidence about being able to survive while the world was going crazy around her. She had missed his strong arms wrapped protectively around her while she slept. She spent the afternoon looking around the house. It was hard to believe that two men could leave a house so clean. After thinking about it, she said, "Duh, they're both Marines." The kitchen was a mess by the time she finished preparing one of her special dinners, but the meal was worth it. The table was set with the best china, crystal glasses, and even flowers. Everything was perfect except that it was almost time for Mike to get home and she was still wearing her regular clothes. She fled for the bedroom to change clothes. Mike entered the house and spotted Robert. He wanted to run over and pick him up, but thought it would be best to wait until he had Karen's permission. Karen stepped out of the bedroom wearing a slinky blue dress. Mike's eyes nearly popped out of his head when he saw the dress. He whistled and then said, "I like that dress." "I'm glad you like it," Karen said modeling her new dress. She had run over to a strip mall boutique to buy it before returning home. It had taken every ounce of her courage to do it. Robert was feeling cranky that afternoon and chose that moment to cry. Mike looked over at Karen and asked, "Is it okay if I pick him up?" A brief flash of concern flickered over Karen's face, but it disappeared as fast as it came. She smiled and said, "Go ahead." Mike strode over to Robert and picked him up with ease. Lifting the little boy over his head, he asked, "Did you miss me, little fellow?" Robert answered, "Dada." Smiling at the new word, Karen said, "He's been cranky all day. I'd say he missed you a lot." Mike hugged Robert and said, "I really missed you." Watching from the bedroom door, Karen felt a little guilty about having kept them apart. She had known that her fears were unjustified, but that didn't make them any less real. A small smile crept across her face watching father and son together. Mike looked over Robert's head and said, "You're turn is next." "I would hope so," Karen said with a laugh. After a few minutes, Robert started to struggle to get down. Mike set him on the floor and watched as the baby tried to stand. Giving him a hand, the baby stood and tried to take his first step. Karen watched as Mike helped Robert take a few steps. She started to laugh when Mike said, "If I die in a combat zone; Box me up and ship me home; Put me in a set of dress blues; Comb my hair and shine my shoes; Pin my medals upon my chest; Tell my mama I done my best; Ma, mama don't you cry; In the Marine Corps you either do or die." "What are you doing?" Karen asked listening to the Mike talk in cadence. "He's a Marine. That's how Marines learn to walk," Mike answered. Looking down at Robert, he said, "Isn't that right?" Little Robert made a noise that sounded a lot like spwat. Mike grinned and said, "Did you hear that?" "What?" "That was definitely an OohRah," Mike said with a grin. "Funny, it sounded more like spwat to me," Karen said looking at Mike like he was crazy. Mike looked down at Robert and kissed the little hand. In a soft voice, he said, "Forgive your mother. She doesn't know what she's saying." The little exchange reminded Karen about what she loved about him. He was strong and gentle with a little humor thrown into the mix. He was a man's man who could lead by example. Mike looked up and saw the expression on her face. Puzzled, he asked, "What are you thinking?" "I'm thinking that Robert is so lucky that you are his father," Karen answered. "He's lucky for an even better reason," Mike said. "What?" "He's got you for a mother," Mike answered. ------- Mike sat in the corner of the Internet Café working on his computer. Over the course of the night, he'd had a brainstorm and was trying to see if it would work. The problem was that his left hand wasn't allowing him to work as fast as his brain. Frustrated, he stood up and said, "Damn it." Charlie, one of the calmer analysts, asked, "What's the matter Mike?" "I need someone to type for me," Mike answered. Sitting off to the side, Cathy was staring out the window bored out of her mind. She had thought that working for the CIA was going to be interesting and exciting. She had imagined cloak and dagger spies coming in and out at all hours of the night. The reality was a lot more boring than she had thought possible. She looked over and said, "I'll do it." Nodding his head, Mike said, "Come over here. I'll walk you through it." Cathy approached and the screen changed over to a woman with her face splattered with come. Mike swore, "Aren't we ever going to get that fixed?" Cathy looked at the picture. It was pretty disgusting in her opinion. The woman looked like someone had spilled hand cream all over her face. Disgusted, she asked, "Do pictures like that really turn on men?" "Not at the moment," Mike answered sounding as frustrated as he felt. He stepped back until the screen returned. With a nod from her, he said, "I need you to pull up the information on the vans captured by the cops." "How do I do that?" Cathy asked staring at the screen. Frustrated at the delays, Mike answered, "Type link terrorist rail gun van arrest." "Okay," Cathy said. She sat back and said, "A whole bunch of documents appeared." "Type refine link gasoline," Mike said hoping that he would get some reports on the levels in the gas tanks. "There are only three articles left," Cathy said. "Pull one of them up by clicking on it," Mike said. "Okay." "Does it say how much gasoline was in the van?" Mike asked. Cathy scrolled down the description of the van. She found that it held a quarter of a tank of gasoline. Nodding her head, she said, "Three quarters of a tank was left in it." Looking over at Jim Donnelly, he said, "Jim, you've got the expertise on the Geographical Information System, right?" "Yes sir. I'm about as good as they get on a GIS system," Jim answered. "We need to find out the gasoline mileage that a van of the type used in the attack gets, figure out how much gasoline a quarter of a tank is, and establish a radius within which that van must have refueled," Mike said. Looking over at Cathy, he said, "Give Jim the data when he needs it." "What are you doing?" Charlie Adams asked finding what Mike was doing much more interesting than what he was working on. "I'm going to find the gas stations that those bastards used to fill up the vans and trace them back to where they came from," Mike said. "Clever, but that's like searching for a needle in a haystack," Charlie said. "We'll ask a thousand cops to nose around until we find that damned needle," Mike said. "But..." "Look. We know they paid cash for their gasoline since queries on their credit cards turned up nothing. That means they had to deal with someone at the gas station. They'll remember them," Mike said. Jim said, "Okay, I've got it. There are one hundred and twenty three gas stations within the radius that van could have traveled. There are sixty that are along highways leading into town." "Okay, print up the gas stations and pictures of the men driving the van. Send it out to the appropriate state police units with a cover letter that tells them that we need to find out which of those gas stations was used," Mike said. Charlie said, "Before you do that, let me do something. Send me that file." For close to five minutes Charlie talked to his computer. Cathy was staring at him in amazement. She looked over at Mike and said, "I've never had a man sweet talk me like that." Mike laughed and watched what Charlie was doing. Charlie sat back with a grin on his face and said, "Eureka!" "What is it?" "Two of those gas stations are owned by Muslims who are on a terrorist watch list," Charlie said. "Now that is an interesting twist," Mike said sitting down on the nearest chair. If the people working at the gas station were Muslim, they'd be an information dead end. As soon as the first question was asked, they'd be demanding their lawyers. Once the lawyers got involved, that would be the end of it. The screen in front of Cathy switched over to a woman looking up at the camera with a cock in her mouth. The image was from the perspective of a man looking down at a woman giving him a blowjob. Cathy looked at the picture and decided that she actually liked it. She could understand why a man would like such a picture. "Cathy, why don't you and Charlie work through the other reports containing gasoline and see if we can't narrow down which gas station they might have used," Mike said. His words snapped her out of her thoughts. She said, "You need to move." "Oh, sorry," Mike said after looking at the screen. The woman in the picture looked a lot like his wife. He moved out of the way and let her work. Over the next few hours a rather interesting picture emerged. There was a network of Muslim gas stations spread over the country such that one could drive from one side of the country to the other side without ever having to stop at a non-Muslim gas station. Even areas where the density of Muslims was about one per hundred square miles had gasoline stations that were owned and operated by Muslims. Mike sat back and stared at the picture. This kind of work was so far out of his expertise that he wasn't even sure what to do with it. Turning to Harold McKinsey who was on the FBI anti-terrorism task force, he asked, "What does that map tell you?" "It tells me that there is a huge network in place that can be used to transport people and weapons across the country without raising any suspicions. Mike, I think you have discovered the Jihad transportation network," Harold answered. ------- The news covered the fall of Israel with less attention than such an important event demanded. Taking a feed from an Arab news service, the Wolf News Channel showed some of the fall, but cut off the transmissions when it became too bloody to show. The Muslims were killing people in the street and leading off young women. Not one reporter was willing to say what future those women faced. On hearing one of the talking heads on the Coax News Network say that the fall of Israel meant that a major source of conflict between the Middle East and the West had been eliminated and that wasn't an entirely bad thing to have happen, Mike switched off the television in disgust. Angry, he said, "That's it. We're totally fucked now." "You can say that again," Karen said. She couldn't get the image of the women being led away out of her mind. Shaking his head at the loss in intelligence information that this meant, Mike said, "You'd think that the liberal press would have covered that story with a lot more diligence. A small country surrounded by enemies is totally destroyed. Isn't that the kind of underdog story that they like so much?" "No. The Jews have never been viewed as the underdog by the liberal media except when it comes to Germany. Israel has been viewed as oppressors of the Palestinians," Karen said knowing that it wasn't that simple. "I can't say that I was surprised when the President refused to assist Israel, but that doesn't make it any less disappointing," Mike said. America had a chance to stand with an Ally and had chosen to turn its back in an effort to appease the Muslims. "We'll never be able to convince another country that we'll stand by them in times of trouble," Karen said. "You can say that again," Mike said. He figured that their fathers were cursing up a storm. ------- Karen slipped the rubber over Mike's cock using her mouth to unroll it like she had seen in a television program on the cable television. She hated rubbers. She knew how much Mike hated rubbers, but she had dropped her birth control pills in the hope of getting pregnant. That had been before the attack on the CIA building. She wasn't going to risk getting pregnant until his sperm had been checked out by a doctor. Everyone knew that exposure to radiation could damage sperm. Karen started to cry. Her tears took Mike by surprise. He pulled her up and hugged her. In a soft voice, he asked, "What's the matter, my love?" "This is the matter," Karen said tugging on the rubber. With a bitterness that was so strong that she could taste it, she said, "I hate them so much." "We can use spermicidal foam if you'd rather," Mike said gently. "Not the rubbers. I hate the terrorists. I want to see each and every one of them dead," Karen said. Pulling back from him, she said, "I want to see them burn. I want to see them writhing in agony as we torture them to death." "Whoa," Mike said realizing that he was suddenly swimming in the world of tears from a highly emotional woman. He put an arm around her and asked, "What's the matter?" "They are destroying everything that I love. I can't enjoy my life worrying that I'm going to get blown up by some mother fucking Arab. My college is closed. I don't feel safe going to a mall. I'm scared of going out to eat. They are even forcing me to distance myself from you out of fear that their fucking radiation is going to make me give birth to a monster," Karen said. Mike didn't know what to say to her without it sounding like a lie. The American way of life was gone and unless things changed soon it wouldn't be coming back. He could envision having to be searched before going into a mall because of the fear that he'd be carrying a bomb. They did that in Israel and people had gotten used to it. Stroking her back, he said, "I'm working hard to make sure that the terrorists won't win. We'll be victorious and life will return to normal. I can assure you that my sperm are not damaged from radiation." "I'm sorry, but I'm having a very hard time believing it," Karen said. The rubber never got used that night. Mike spent an hour holding her while she calmed down. It was a long time before she fell asleep in his arms. It was even longer before he fell asleep. ------- Mike looked into the hospital room and caught sight of the man lying in the bed. Taking a deep breath, he forced a smile on his face and entered the room. Approaching the bed, he said, "Hello Dale." "Hello, Mike," Dale said. He rubbed a hand through his hair and then frowned when he looked at the hair that had come out. Dale was a shadow of the man who Mike had met that first day on the job. It was hard to look at the damage that the exposure to the radioactive material had done to him. Concerned, he asked, "How are you doing?" "I'm dying," Dale said with a frown. He had been standing fifty feet from where the second canister had crashed through the wall of the CIA building. Stunned by the concussion, he had stumbled around blinded by dust for ten minutes before getting out of the area. In that time he had inhaled or swallowed enough radioactive material to kill him. "Shit," Mike said shaking his head. It didn't matter how many wounded men he had watched die, it never got any easier. "Don't feel that way. Just focus on getting the bastards who tried to kill us," Dale said. Mike glanced at the door before he said, "It's not going to be easy. The President has too many Secret Service agents around him." Dale laughed at the comment despite the pain that accompanied laughing. It was a sad little laugh since he believed there was a grain of truth in it. He did blame the President for his death. He said, "That's the best one I've heard yet. Mike took a seat and said, "Aside from your husband being shot, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?" Dale laughed and said, "I take it that your question is a subtle way of finding out how I'm doing despite the fact that I'm dying." When Mike nodded his head, Dale said, "I'll tell you the truth, I'm not doing well. I'm depressed as hell. I want to get it over with, but I'm too much of a coward to eat a bullet even if I could get a gun in here. My body is decaying while I lie here in this damned bed and there are no drugs or treatments that can change that. I just want to die." Mike was quiet for a minute and then, after glancing over at the door, softly asked, "Are you asking for some help?" "No, but I appreciate your offer," Dale answered as tears welled up in his eyes. He reached over and put a hand on Mike's arm. He said, "You're the first one who has really listened to me. I really do appreciate the offer, but I couldn't saddle you with that burden." Nodding his head, Mike asked, "Is there anything that I can do for you?" "You can keep me company," Dale answered. Mike spent a pleasant hour talking with Dale before getting chased away by the nurse who declared that visiting hours were over. The subjects they discussed avoided terrorism, work, and the news. Mike told Dale about having gone fishing with Sanjay and the fun he had. Dale was just as surprised to learn that Sanjay enjoyed fishing and barbecues as Mike had been. It was a very pleasant visit and Mike left feeling that Dale wasn't quite as depressed. ------- The area around the Internet Café where Mike ran his intelligence group had changed significantly over the past few months. The stores to each side had moved out and the military had moved in. The lot was surrounded by chain link fence topped with barbed wire. Gates with guards prevented unauthorized access to the parking lot. It looked very odd to have so much security in strip mall next to a residential area. Mike arrived one Monday morning to discover a dozen technicians were in the Internet Café making changes to the entire place. It didn't look like an Internet Café anymore. Although the layout hadn't changed, the room now looked like a military command and control center with large screens across the front of the room. The largest screen showed a map of the United States with markers of recent terrorist events. The size of the marker indicated the level of significance of the event. Small markers meant a suicide bomber while a large marker identified a crippling attack. At the moment there weren't any large markers on the map. It should be noted that there were two colors of markers. Red markers indicated acts of terror performed by Muslims. Blue markers indicated acts of terror against Muslims. Although the press was reporting more acts of violence against Muslims, the red markers out numbered the blue markers. Mike knew the screen presented a picture of a nation on the verge of social collapse. After studying the large map of the United States for several minutes, Mike turned to Jim and said, "I want us to put that network of gas stations that we discovered a couple of months ago on the second screen over there." Jim typed the commands to generate the map and then display it on the screen. He asked, "Is that it?" "Yes, but make those gas stations a bright yellow. Then I want you to overlay on that map the areas with population densities of Muslims that are greater than twenty-five per square mile," Mike said looking at the map thinking that there had to be something they could learn from it. "I don't have the data to do that," Jim said. "Use the data from the last census," Mike said. "It won't be accurate. We've had a lot of movement over the past ten years," Jim said. "Well, the next census is supposed to be taken this year, although I doubt we'll find many people willing to go door to door," Mike said. After a few minutes of typing, Jim managed to put up green areas on the map that corresponded to the data Mike had requested. Mike stared at the map for several minutes. His intent focus on the map slowly became the center of attention in the entire room. Nodding his head, Mike finally asked, "Does anyone notice anything odd about this map?" Shirley Holbrook answered, "Well, we have a lot of yellow dots in rural areas along highways without any Muslims living nearby." "I noticed that too," Mike said. Turning to Jim, Mike asked, "Can you put up all of the major attacks by Muslims on that board?" "Sure," Tim said. With a few keystrokes the map was updated with the information. Jack McElroy said, "You know, it is pretty obvious that the majority of major attacks are happening in areas where the Muslim population isn't all that large. They must be moving people and material from one area to another to launch an attack." "Tim, put up all of the previous residences of the terrorists who were involved in those major attacks on the board. Use red for them," Mike said. "That's real interesting," Shirley said staring at the map. Mike went over to the screen and, pointing to various areas while talking about them, said, "We have clusters here, here, and here. There are always a few locals who are familiar with the target and one person who isn't. Ladies and Gentlemen, I have an idea." "What?" Shirley asked. "See this area here," Mike asked. "Yes." "There aren't any red spots there. Don't you find it odd that it is the only area where we have a high density of Muslims and no terrorists living there?" Mike asked. "I believe that you are right," Jack said reaching for his telephone. He was ready to call a branch of the FBI offices near that area. "Hold on, Jack. I'm not done with this," Mike said. "What are you thinking?" "Well, I'm thinking that if they are doing the planning and providing material support from that area, then they must be meeting the people who are going to do the actual attack somewhere. I'd bet it is at one or more of those gas stations, particularly those where there is a Muslim owned hotel nearby. The interesting thing about those gas stations is that the people living around them are not Muslims. I suggest that we send people out to talk to those folks to find out if they've noticed anything odd. They'll talk to us," Mike said with a smile. ------- Chapter 16 Sanjay flipped the burger over with the spatula in one hand and a beer in the other. Grinning, he said, "This is the life. There's nothing like cooking burgers over the grill with an ice cold beer in hand." "I know what you mean," Mike said looking over the gas grill. He asked, "How do you like this grill?" "It's okay. I prefer the flavor of meat cooked over charcoal, but I don't have the control over the fire that it requires," Sanjay answered. He took a sip of his beer and continued, "It is real good for cooking fish, though. It is much better than my old grill." "I never cook fish on the grill. Usually Karen will dip it in batter and fry it or she'll broil it with a little butter, lemon, and spices." Sanjay wobbled his head in agreement and said, "I like catfish fried and the bass grilled or broiled. My wife has a recipe for a fish stew that isn't too bad." Mike looked over at where the two wives were talking and asked, "Do you tell your wife that it isn't too bad?" "Well, I tell her that it is very good," Sanjay admitted with a laugh. He lowered his voice when he said, "I might get some respect at work, but that ends the moment I enter the house through the front door." Mike chuckled and then said, "I don't get to see you very often. How is it going at work?" "It is going very well. The people working for me are concentrating on the ties between the research performed here and overseas. There are a lot of people who are answering to two governments. It really angers me a lot," Sanjay said. "Yes. There is a lot of that going on," Mike said thinking about his investigations into the Chinese high energy weapons programs. "You were one hundred percent correct about the Chinese. We allowed a leak to the Chinese government about a pending arrest of Dr. Ming. He suddenly returned to China and it appears he won't be coming back here," Sanjay said. "You let him go?" Mike asked looking at Sanjay in surprise. "No," Sanjay answered with a smile, "We didn't actually have anything with which to charge him. We just let out a little rumor and suddenly he was gone." "Why did you do it?" "He was about to kill another program headed by a former Chinese national. It was the Aerial Gauss Gun project. I didn't want them getting that while killing our chances to have it first," Sanjay answered. Over at the picnic table, Karen was talking with Teva about children. Sanjay and Teva had two little girls four and six. Karen was telling about her fears that she and Mike would never have another child when Teva interrupted and asked, "Have you talked to Mike about what happened that day?" "Well, we talked a little about what happened," Karen answered. "Sanjay told me all about how Mike saved many people that day. He had everyone wear masks to protect them from the dust. He led them out of the building avoiding all of the dusty areas. Once outside, he took everyone upwind of the building where they would further avoid exposure. He told everyone to keep their masks on and not to move around too much. "When Sanjay was processed through decontamination, he was told that he and Mike had no signs of radioactive material in their bodies. Mike is a hero. He saved Sanjay's life that day," Teva said. She looked over at Mike thinking that she was going to be eternally grateful to him for taking care of her husband. "He didn't say anything about that," Karen said biting her lower lip. She adjusted Robert on her lap and thought about what Teva had said. It was different hearing stories about Mike from other people who were there. His story was almost identical with Teva's except he never mentioned that he was the one doing the leading. Teva said, "Sanjay and I are trying to have a baby. We want to have a boy. I'm not worried about any radiation problems. I think you will have very healthy babies with Mike." ------- "You're looking pretty healthy. Being at sea must agree with you," Mike said with a grin. The Admiral looked tired and haggard. "I wasn't at sea this time. I was up in New York at the Harbor to see what we can do about stationing a ship offshore until things get better," Vincent said. Although New York City had to request the National Guard to put down riots three times, they still didn't want a military presence parked off shore. He had spent almost three days in near constant negotiation and had to leave without having accomplished his mission. "I heard the President telling the terrorists that they should stop the senseless killing on the television this week. It seems to me like things should calm down immediately with such strong leadership in the White House," Mike said. The President had talked about making reparations for past wrongs against the Arab countries. Vincent nearly choked on hearing the President being described as a strong leader. He said, "That man is a total asshole. He's got more people guarding him than any President in the history of this country. Even though he spends almost all of his time inside Camp David, he tripled the number of Secret Service agents assigned to him. He hasn't made a public appearance in seven weeks." "I wasn't talking about that. No, I was talking about his leadership in taking this country into the future. He's re-examining American Foreign Policy so that we'll be a softer gentler nation. He wants people to like us," Mike said. Central to his program was giving money to any country that wanted it. Mike didn't have to wonder where all of that money was going to come from; that had been the second part of his program. "He wants to cut our budget by twenty-five percent as a show of good faith that we are moving away from being a Superpower that is to be feared," Vincent said with a snort of disgust. Shaking his head, he said, "I can't believe that any leader of this country would talk about cutting back the military at a time when it is being attacked by suicide squads who were trained and backed by foreign powers." "Well, we've lost ninety percent of our former ability to gather intelligence about what is going on in the rest of the world. We can't tell you who is training and backing the suicide bombers any more, at least not with the one hundred percent certainty that the President demands. Of course, I'd be happy with ten percent certainty about now," Mike said. "That's a shame," Vincent said. He took a sip of his club soda wishing it was a scotch. He had given up drinking the occasional scotch because he felt duty bound to be in full possession of his faculties in the event of another emergency. A couple of lucky strikes on the Navy and he could be one of the highest ranking men left alive. He asked, "How's Karen doing?" "The attack on the CIA building really upset her. I don't blame her. A lot of our analysts are having a hard time dealing with it. We've had close to thirty percent of our people go on disability or quit. She's slowly getting over it," Mike answered. A lot of the field agents were getting jobs in the private sector in the area of security or threat analysis. A lot of companies with branches overseas wanted to protect their investments by knowing what kinds of threats existed. The general climate of fear had made anyone with even the least bit of background in security or intelligence analysis a very valuable commodity. Many of the analysts who had been in the building the day it had been attacked were hospitalized for emotional problems. "I feel sorry for Robert. I have no idea what kind of world we're going to be leaving him," Vincent said. ------- Mike walked into the temporary headquarters of the NSA for his meeting with Jack Lancer. Three very large buildings being destroyed in the Washington area had really stressed the real estate market for business buildings. Many of the owners didn't want to rent to the FBI, CIA, or NSA out of fear that the entire building would be rendered unusable by a terrorist attack. The agencies had been forced to be a little creative in returning to business. The temporary headquarters of the NSA was an example of that. The building was an old roller skating rink that had been empty at the time of the attack. It was a pretty heavy duty building that had a defensible perimeter, but that was about all that was positive about it. It beat the temporary headquarters of the CIA which was an abandoned grocery store. Jack raised a hand in greeting and said, "I'm glad you could come." "You said that you needed to talk to me," Mike said wondering once again why Jack had asked him to come. "We finally got a secure conference room where we can have a serious discussion without much of a chance of being overheard. It is the most difficult hundred square feet of space to book in the entire country. I managed to get it for fifteen minutes," Jack said leading them towards the conference room. "Fifteen minutes?" Mike asked. "Yes. They are actually scheduling it down to fifteen minute intervals. I had to trade my first born son for that much time. The only way to actually get a full hour is to be on a first name basis with the man who assassinates the President," Jack said. "Wow, that is tough," Mike said uneasily. Jokes about the death of the President were becoming all too common within the intelligence community. The scary thing was that some of the folks in that community could actually make it happen. When they reached the conference room, Jack stopped and looked at his watch. He said, "The group inside will be out in two minutes." "Are you sure about that?" "Positive. I don't think anyone is willing to suffer the consequences of holding the room longer than their allotted time. Fights have broken out," Jack said. Mike had expected Jack to laugh or even grin, but when Jack remained serious he realized that Jack wasn't kidding about fights breaking out. Shaking his head, he decided that he'd rather remain at the Internet Café. The door opened right on time and four people came out. Based on the expressions on their faces, it must have been a pretty intense meeting. Mike wondered if the limited time in the conference room was forcing people to be more focused on their work. Jack said, "Let's get in." "Sure," Mike said following Jack into the room. He paused and asked, "Is anyone else coming?" "No," Jack said shutting the door. "All this just to talk to me?" Mike asked. "I went to the hospital the other day and talked to Dale. As you know, he is dying." "Yes, I know," Mike said. "He recommended that you take his place as representative of the CIA on the board of the Intelligence 100. I seconded that recommendation. Last night we met and voted on the matter. As of this moment, you are one of the five men directing the Intelligence 100," Jack said. He wasn't going to mention that it was now down to the Intelligence 82 and with Dale dying it was going to be the Intelligence 81 soon. Stunned, Mike was left speechless for a full minute. He couldn't believe that such a position of responsibility had been given to him. When he finally recovered, he asked, "Why me?" "Dale said that of everyone who came to visit him in the hospital that you were the most regular and actually listened to him rather than try to cheer him up. He thinks you're one of the finest analysts that he's ever worked with. He also said that you can make the hard decisions and carry them through. I agree with that assessment," Jack said. He wasn't going to mention the offer Mike made to administer the coup de grace if that was what Dale wanted. "On what basis did he say that I could make the hard decisions?" "It was your e-mail that people needed to be warned that prompted us to send out the warning before the attack. You were right and it did save a lot of lives," Jack answered. That meeting had been a brutal affair. Surprised that his e-mail had been the trigger for the warning, Mike said, "I didn't know that." "It's true. None of us even thought of it, but you did." "Wouldn't Tim Brown be a better candidate?" Mike asked thinking that Tim was a more senior member of the team. "Tim Brown was diagnosed with prostate cancer the day after the attack. He's undergoing treatment at the moment. I don't want to put any more stress on him than absolutely necessary," Jack answered. "Damn," Mike said feeling bad that he didn't know that Tim was ill. "It seems like a lot of us are dropping dead. If I was a suspicious man, I'd be worried," Jack said with a smile. He was a suspicious man and he was worried. "What am I supposed to do in my new job?" Mike asked. Handing over a thumb drive, Jack answered, "This will get you access to some additional information. Read it when you have a chance to be alone at the Internet Café. We meet every Wednesday night at seven in room ten at the Bethesda Medical Center." "Wednesday night at seven in room ten at the Bethesda Medical Center," Mike repeated. "That's right. Our time is about up. We should get out now," Jack said glancing down at his wrist watch. ------- Karen was riding atop Mike for the first time without a rubber since the CIA building had been destroyed. As time had gone by, she had accepted that it was highly unlikely that Mike had any chromosome damage from the radiation to which he had been exposed. Teva's comments had convinced her that it was safe. When Mike grunted his orgasm, she collapsed atop him. After a few minutes, she said, "I want to have a baby." "I know you do," Mike said rubbing her breasts. "I want a little girl," Karen said with a smile. "You should have told me earlier. I'd have ordered a sperm with an X Chromosome to take that egg and hold it," Mike said with a smile. "Don't tell me that even your sperms are Marines," Karen said laughing lightly. "Yes, ma'am. I'm a Marine through and through, all of the way to my gonads," Mike said. "Maybe I should arrange for you to have a harem of a thousand women," Karen said suddenly somber. "Why?" Mike asked curious why she would say that. "I'd like you to get them all pregnant and produce enough Marines to get rid of all the terrorists," Karen said. "I don't want a thousand women. I've got you. You're all the woman I want and need," Mike said rubbing her on the back. Karen sighed and asked, "Are you going to get rid of all of the terrorists?" "I'm doing my best," Mike said. ------- Upon looking up from his monitor, Mike stared at the screen showing the news channel. The television showed a video of a mall shot from a helicopter circling overhead. The caption read, 'Terrorists Attack Mall.' A few seconds later the caption was changed to read, 'Poison Gas Used At Mall.' He watched the closed caption of the dialog. The caption was always on so that they wouldn't have to put up with the continuous noise of the television. With a very sick feeling in his stomach, he picked up the phone and dialed his wife's cell phone. After six rings, he was connected to the voice mail. Swearing, he stood up and said, "I've got to get over there." Joe looked up at Mike surprised by the sudden action and asked, "What's the matter?" "My wife is at that mall," Mike shouted as he ran out the door. On getting inside his car, Mike pulled the pistol and holster out of the glove compartment. If he was going to an area where terrorists had been, he wanted to be armed. He cursed his mangled left hand as he struggled to get the holster on. He drove out of the parking lot at high speed. The traffic was horrible and he had to slow down before he got into a serious accident. It seemed to him that as many people were driving towards the scene of the attack as were driving away from it. Another man driving like a maniac passed him on the shoulder of the road. Mike shook his head and said, "You won't do anyone any good if you die on your way there." Taking his own advice, Mike eased off on the accelerator. When the exit for the mall appeared, he got off the highway. The mall was just off the highway, but his attempt to reach it ended about a mile from the entrance. Police had barricades preventing traffic from approaching it. Mike flashed his CIA ID and was told that he'd have to walk to where they had set up an incident command center. Only emergency vehicles were being allowed closer to the mall than that. Swearing, Mike parked his car where he had been directed and headed up the street towards the mall. Despite the fact that he was waving his CIA ID around, he knew that he didn't have any authority to be there. He hoped that nobody looked close enough to see that it said he was with the CIA, but he wasn't too worried. There were enough badges from alphabet agencies getting flashed around the place that he doubted anyone was even looking at them anymore. Now that he was inside the outer perimeter, he paused to consider what a reasonable next move was. Looking over at the parking garage, he decided that he would go over to the parking garage and see if his wife's car was parked there. The entrances and exits of the parking garage were blocked with wooden barricades to prevent anyone from leaving the mall. The idea was to keep people within an inner perimeter until they were processed through decontamination and medical. Having been through the procedure, Mike understood better than most what the victims of this attack were facing. He hadn't gotten close to the parking garage when a van drove out of it and crashed through the wooden barricades. The van swerved and hit the policeman who was standing down the street from the barricade. From within the van, several shots rang out. His training as a Marine kicked in and Mike ducked for cover pulling out his pistol in the process. The van was heading down the street towards him swerving from side to side as the driver tried to hit every responder in the area. Bullets were flying from within the van. Realizing that it was one of the terrorists trying to get away, Mike stepped in front of the van. Taking careful aim, he squeezed off four rounds and then had to dive out of the way of the van. It crashed into a telephone pole behind him. Mike didn't bother to investigate, but headed towards the mall. He decided that he would have better luck getting into the mall than the parking garage at that point. There were enough people headed over towards the fallen police officers that his help wasn't needed. A policeman, who had seen Mike shoot at the van, ran past and called out, "Good shooting." Ignoring the comment, Mike continued on towards the mall focused entirely on rescuing his wife and son. He had nearly reached the command post when he came across a man in a Hazmat suit lying on the ground by the truck. Even with the barest of glances in the man's direction, there was no mistaking the hole in the suit with blood seeping out of it. Swearing softly at the knowledge that he couldn't walk past an injured man without rendering aid, Mike knelt down and turned the man over. Mike asked, "What happened?" "Those bastards in the van shot me," the man answered; his voice was muffled within the Hazmat suit. "Are you contaminated?" Mike asked feeling pretty confident that the man wasn't. "No. I was just getting ready to go in," the man answered. "Okay," Mike said feeling relieved that he hadn't been exposed to what ever had been used in the mall. He looked down at the man and then over at the line of ambulances waiting to carry off the victims of the attack. He couldn't leave the man lying on the ground and the ambulances were too far to call out for help. He picked up the man and staggered in the direction in which the ambulances were waiting. One of the EMS personnel associated with the nearest ambulance to Mike had gone around to the back of the vehicle to smoke a cigarette. The man noticed Mike and gave a shout that brought others around to the back of the ambulance. Within a few seconds, they relieved Mike of his burden. Mike looked around trying to figure out what to do. He looked back at the Hazmat truck. Ten minutes later, Mike was wearing a stolen Hazmat suit and headed towards the mall. At least some of the training received during his time spent in Iraq had come to a good end. The suit wasn't military, but it was similar enough that he knew how to wear it. Mike stopped when he reached the entrance of the mall. Just through the doors, he could see that there were bodies on the ground twitching. There weren't any burns on the bodies that he could see. That eliminated the blistering agents. The fact that the people were twitching suggested nerve agents. Other people in Hazmat suits were carrying people over to a triage area. For the next few hours, Mike made trip after trip into the mall to carry out people who were still alive. Most of them were in pretty bad shape. The longer he searched for his wife and son, the more worried he got. He wanted to run through the mall looking for them, but his personal honor wouldn't allow him to walk past a wounded person without helping. After all, he didn't want someone walking past his wife and son without helping them. The fact was that he wasn't entirely positive that his wife and son had actually been inside the mall despite the fact that Karen had called and told him that she was going there. It wasn't until he went into a shoe store that he found Karen and Robert on the floor. Terrified of what he was going to find, he went over to where they were lying. Robert was dead, but Karen was still alive. She was just barely alive; even the tremors had quieted down as her body lost the will to live. Barely able to see past his tears, he knew that he could only carry one of them at a time. He picked up his wife and carried her out of the mall. When he reached the triage area, they told him to take her to the terminal area. Mike didn't want to accept that decision, but looking down at her face he knew the truth. He laid the body down where they told him to take her. He was exhausted and could barely hold himself upright. Holding her hand seemed to eliminate the worst of the twitching. He kept repeating, "I love you." Mike was surrounded by people slowly dying in a scene that would be the source of a lifetime on nightmares. The woman next to him started thrashing as a final seizure took hold of her. He grabbed her hand with his left hand to let her know that she wasn't alone. The touch of another human being calmed her down and her thrashing stopped. Mike knelt there between the two women holding their hands and talking to them. He didn't know if either woman heard him or understood him. It didn't matter. He told his wife that he loved her. He told the other woman that he was there for her. First the woman next to him died and then a few minutes later Karen died. With his spirit broken, Mike remained kneeling beside the body of his wife uncaring of what happened to him. Long before his wife had died, the air filter in the Hazmat suit had been pushed to its limits. The longer he stayed there, the worse his air supply became. Another man in a Hazmat suit found him slumped over the body of his wife. ------- Chapter 17 Mike regained consciousness to find that he was in a hospital bed. He had a splitting headache. For a full minute he was confused as to where he was until the memories flooded in on him. He wanted to climb out of the bed and destroy something, but he felt too weak. He cried out, "No!" Heart breaking at the anguish in Mike's voice, his father stepped into view and said, "Hello, son." "Colonel," Mike croaked. There was supposed to be a hello in there, but the word didn't make it out of his mouth. "I'm sorry about Karen and Robert," Robert said. His chin quivered and eyes watered as he said it. He took a deep breath to control his emotions. After a few seconds, he said, "I know you did your best to save them." "I kept looking for them, but I didn't find them until it was too late. I kept hoping that they weren't there, but I knew they were. I couldn't give up looking for them, but I couldn't walk past those others without helping them," Mike said with tears running down his face as memories of that horrible time in the mall returned full force. "You saved a lot of people that day," Robert said with more than a little pride in how his son had handled himself. "That day?" Mike asked feeling rather confused. "That was two days ago," Robert said. Mike had been dehydrated and unconscious when they had brought him to the hospital. The hours spent inside the Hazmat Suit had nearly killed him. He should have only stayed in it for two hours. "Oh," Mike said wondering how he had lost two days. "They saved your hand," Robert said gesturing to Mike's bandaged left hand. It was too soon after the operation to put it in a cast. "My hand?" Mike asked without bothering to look at it. "You broke it again. I assume that occurred when you were carrying people out of the mall. They had to replace two of the bones in your left hand with surgical steel rods," Robert said. The alternative had been to remove the half of his hand. Mike looked down at his left hand. Voice breaking, Mike asked, "What use is my hand without Karen or Robert? I can't use it to teach Robert how to ride a bike or catch a ball. I can't use it to caress my wife." Robert looked down at Mike with a frown. In a soft voice, he said, "I'll tell you how you can use your hand, son. Those bastards killed your family. Sitting here feeling sorry for yourself isn't going to bring them back. You can't bring them back, but you can make sure that those bastards never have a chance to do something like that again. You need to get out of here and take care of business." "You're right," Mike said feeling a hardening of his heart. Seeing the expression that crossed Mike's face, Robert said, "Don't give in to your anger or hate. Don't allow this to make your heart hard or else you'll end up a bitter man." Thinking it was an impossible task, Mike said, "I'll try not to give into my hate." Robert looked at Mike for a minute seeing a war of emotions taking place beneath the fixed exterior. He said, "Son, I'm pretty sure that you believe that a real man doesn't cry. Let me tell you as a man who has led other men through horrendous circumstances one thing. That is bullshit. I've seen men cry like babies and I've never thought less of them for it. Some things demand it." "Thanks, Dad," Mike said. ------- Mike was lying in the bed staring out the window thinking about how he was going to track down every part of the terrorist network and destroy it. The nurse came into the room carrying a magazine and handed it to him. She said, "You made the cover." The cover of the magazine had a picture of Mike wearing the Hazmat suit holding the hands of two women. Even though the Hazmat suit hid his face, the emotions he was feeling at the time were obvious. The position of his body conveyed the anguish of a man who had lost everything of meaning to him. Mike glanced at the cover and asked, "Do they know it was me?" "Only those of us who treated you know. The official story is that you were here in the hospital having your hand operated on at the time of the attack," the nurse answered. She had never seen such a large cover up in her entire life. It made her wonder who he was that so much effort to hide his involvement would be undertaken. "Good. Throw it away," Mike said turning his head to look out the window. From the first moment it was published, the picture had come to symbolize the price that Americans were paying in the war against terrorism. One of the things that made the picture have such an impact was that none of the faces were visible in it. Everyone who looked at the picture could see themselves in it. In time, it would join the list of the one hundred most influential photographs and would have the same level of recognition that had been achieved by the photograph of raising the flag on Iwo Jima. The nurse glanced down at the picture and asked, "Why?" "I don't like the idea of anyone profiting off my misery," Mike said in a tightly controlled voice. The nurse picked up the magazine and said, "I understand." "Thank you," Mike said. The dark mood that had settled inside Mike was reflected outdoors. The gray and overcast sky outside was threatening to rain. ------- Wearing his hospital clothes and a robe, Mike made his way down to room ten. It was a few minutes before seven when he arrived. The door was open and he made his way into the room. He took a seat and waited with his thoughts turned inwards. The first one to arrive was Tim Collins from the FBI. He entered the room and did a double take at finding Mike seated at the table. Surprised to see him there, he said, "I heard that you were a patient here. How did you manage to get permission to attend?" "I didn't ask for permission," Mike answered shrugging his shoulders. "That works," Tim said with a short chuckle. A minute later, Jack Lancer walked into the room and said, "I see that you made it. I was afraid that you wouldn't be able to get away." "I wouldn't miss this meeting for the world," Mike said. John Daniels and Larry Dinkins of the DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency) and NDIC (National Drug Intelligence Center) respectively entered the room together. While John closed the door, Larry said, "Mike Bowman. It's a pleasure to meet you. That was one hell of a job you did the other day. You killed the terrorist, rescued one of the responders, and carried twenty-three people out of the mall. Sixteen of the people are still alive because of you." Shrugging his shoulders, Mike discounted all of the things he had done. There was one thing that he hadn't done at the mall. Voice cracking, he said, "The people I went there to rescue didn't make it." "Are you sure that you're up to this?" Jack asked worried that Mike was too emotional. "I'm sure," Mike answered as the other men took seats around the table. Jack looked around the table for a second and then said, "The first order of business is numbers. We're down to eighty-two members in the Intelligence 100. The CIA has only fifteen members left from an original of twenty-three and that is after we added Sanjay. The FBI has only fifteen members left and we've already added two." Tim said, "The terrorists are killing us faster than we are killing them." "So what do we do to increase our numbers?" Jack asked. "Nothing," Mike said. He looked from one man to the next trying to judge their reaction. Tim sat back with a frown. He had expected Mike to sit quietly for the first few meetings rather than jump in and start arguing points. He asked, "Why do you say that?" "The charter of this organization was to provide unbiased intelligence analyses while getting rid of the foreign agents who are negatively impacting national policy. The first part of that problem has been solved. The second part of our mission can't be achieved until the President is out of office," Mike answered. Larry coughed. When he finished coughing, he said, "Mike is right. Sometimes I forget that fact and start to believe that we are here to end terrorism." "What do you suggest?" Tim asked worried about Larry's cough. "I think that for the next two years we need to direct agents to collect as much information as we can about the foreign agents and the terrorists. A bunch of the bullshit that has been keeping our people from doing their jobs is gone. It has been replaced by a different bunch of bullshit, but this President isn't going to remain in office for more than one term. Once he's gone, perhaps the next President will be willing to do what needs to be done," Mike answered. "Are you sure that he won't last more than one term?" "I won't ever accept that the American voter is dumb enough to keep him in office," Mike said. "They were for the previous President." ------- The news was filled with stories about the attack at the mall. Even though suicide bombers had been killing Americans on an almost daily basis, this attack was major news. The fact that it involved a poison made it big news, but they weren't releasing the name of the poison or how it had been delivered. There was a lot of speculation about the poison. The most common candidate was Sarin gas, but there were no details about how it had been delivered. The one story that amused Mike was the policeman who was being credited with having killed the terrorist driving the van. It was the same guy who had complimented him on his shooting. The poor guy looked positively miserable trying to answer questions about his actions. Every time he said that he hadn't done it, the reporter countered with eyewitness accounts that put the policeman in the role of shooter. The interview with the policeman was followed by the President holding a press conference at Camp David. As usual, the man was talking about how a moderate response to the attack by a few mentally unstable individuals was necessary and that law enforcement was investigating the matter. Mike listened incredulously as the President outlined his plan for dealing with the terrorists. He snorted and said, "Dealing with them? I'd call that plan more of a capitulation to them." Disgusted, he switched off the news just as the nurse entered the room. She waited for him to calm down a little before she said, "You have a visitor." "Who is it?" Mike asked dreading the answer. He was not looking forward to having to face the Admiral and tell him that he had been unable to save his daughter. "Representative Anthony Archer," the nurse answered. "What does he want?" Mike asked with a sharp edge to his voice. He knew of the Representative because he was one of the few members of congress who was a vocal opponent of the current Presidential policies. He really wanted to refuse the visit. He'd definitely refuse the visit if the man wanted to use his misery to improve his political position. "His late wife was the woman whose hand you were holding in the picture." "Oh," Mike said swallowing heavily. He didn't know how to face the man or what to say to him. There weren't any last words for him to relay. Turning his head so that he was looking at the nurse, he said, "Send him in." The man who entered the hospital room did not look like a Washington power broker. He looked like a sad man on the verge of tears. Approaching Mike in a shuffle, he stopped two paces away from the bed. In a soft voice, he said, "I'm Anthony Archer, but I would prefer it if you would call me Tony." "I'm Michael Bowman. You can call me Mike." "Mike, I won't take up much of your time. I wanted to thank you for comforting my wife during her last moments," Tony said. His voice caught when he said the word, 'wife.' "I'm sorry I couldn't save her," Mike said. "There wasn't a chance that you or anyone could have saved her once the terrorists had released the Sarin in the mall. The same is true for your wife and son. There was nothing you could have done to save them," Tony said. There was a hint of anger in his voice that became blatant once he said the word 'terrorists.' Although it wasn't the first time that Sarin had been mentioned as the toxin, Mike was quiet for a minute thinking about what Tony had said. It didn't make sense to him. Sarin had been used inside four separate Japanese subway trains and had only killed eight people. It was true that another thousand had required treatment and were suffering continued health problems from the exposure to it. The problem was that the subway trains were a much more enclosed environment than a huge shopping mall. Shaking his head, he asked, "How did they manage to get the entire mall with Sarin?" "The terrorists rented an empty store. They set up a device to create a very fine fog that contained Sarin. Hundreds of people walked through it without even realizing they were getting poisoned," Tony answered. "Oh," Mike said. He wasn't even going to ask how terrorists could manage to rent space in a mall and work undisturbed long enough to put their plan into action. The answer was obvious. They were Arabs and you couldn't question Arabs without getting sued. He asked, "Where did they get the Sarin?" "One of the Japanese members of Aum developed the Sarin in a lab in Iowa," Tony answered revealing information that had been given to a handful of congressmen. "Ah, the Cult of Doom," Mike said recognizing the name of the Japanese terrorist group. Shaking his head, he said, "There were hints that those groups were working together. We're really screwed now." "That may be, but not for very much longer. I'm running for President," Tony said. Mike raised an eyebrow and waited to hear how the man planned to use him in his campaign. When Tony didn't say anything, Mike said, "I wish you luck." "No you don't," Tony said in a flat factual manner. "Why do you say that?" Mike asked rather surprised by the accuracy of Tony's response. "You figure that I'm going to ask you to campaign for me," Tony said. He moved over to the chair and took a seat. "Aren't you?" Mike asked. "No," Tony answered with a tired smile. He had entertained the possibility until he had learned a little more about Mike from some well connected individuals. The fact that the press hadn't gotten Mike's name had been the first clue that there was something significant about the man. It was obvious that the man had a guardian angel or two watching over his career. Tony said, "I talked to your father-in-law. The Admiral convinced me that asking you to do that would be a major mistake. You are getting terrorists off the streets. That's more important than me getting elected. Even if I lose, the day is going to come when someone is going to get serious about protecting this country. We need you to be there when that happens." "Thanks, I guess," Mike said wondering what the Admiral really had to say about him. "Besides, I don't think that I need your help." "Why do you say that?" Mike asked. To tell the truth, he was surprised at how well the man had done his homework. "Because I'm going to tell it like it is. I'm not going to play that Political Correctness game. I'm not going to play politician. I'm going to tell people the truth. I'm going to call that damned religion exactly what it is. Islam represents a clear and present danger to the security of this country," Tony answered. "You're not going to be able to make the practice of Islam illegal. That's a violation of the First Amendment," Mike said. He wished that ending the terrorism would be as simple as outlawing Islam and locking up anyone caught practicing it. "That's right, I can't do that. I don't have to make the practice of Islam illegal. All I have to do is make it easier for our law enforcement people to investigate the bastards. I'm going to make sure that terrorists can't use a charge of profiling as a shield. I'm going to strip them naked," Tony answered. "The liberals are going to eat you alive," Mike said. He could imagine how the press would react to a campaign based on that premise. Of course, it did promise Tony lots of airtime on the news. "You're wrong. They are going to try to eat me alive, but they aren't going to succeed. I am going to tell the American people that the practice of fundamentalist Islam represents a threat to them. It won't be my wife who is killed the next time one of those assholes decides that he wants to die while killing Americans. Those bastards already got my wife. Next time, it will be their wife, their children, their mother, or their father," Tony said with real fire in his voice. The tired man was gone only to be replaced by a man with a mission. "Right," Mike said. Tony looked at the expression on Mike's face and said, "The American people already know that. Let the liberals talk their bullshit. People will be switching their televisions over to the Wolf News Channel faster than you can say Anthony Archer. The American people will want to hear my message without assholes telling them that they need to lose a bunch of family members to Muslim terrorists because we're bad people." "What about the liberal judges?" Mike asked knowing that they could rewrite law even more effectively than legislators. "I'm a lawyer and I've read the Geneva Convention. It protects innocent by-standers and provides rights for regular armies and militias as long as they are wearing a uniform. An asshole wearing civilian clothes does not get the protections provided by the Geneva Convention," Tony said. "The French are going to like that," Mike said sarcastically. He could just imagine the international outcry that statement would create. "Fuck the French. I'm not risking one American life so that the French won't criticize America. Fuck them. They don't need an excuse to talk bad about us. It is their national past time," Tony said crossing his arms. "You've got my vote. I imagine that you'll only get two votes when all is said and done, but I wish you luck," Mike said. ------- The funeral was a circus. It wasn't the families involved that turned it into a circus. The press was present in full force. They were covering the funeral because of the high level military people and politicians who were attending. Adding to the riot was a weird Christian group shouting that it was the victims' fault that they died. This was not the first time they had done this and Mike suspected that it wouldn't be their last. This group had taken to appearing at the funerals of national tragedy to parade around with signs blaming the victims. Immune to the outrageous activities going on around him, Mike stared blankly at the pair of caskets as they were lowered into the ground. He felt as though there were two of him -- one was staring at the caskets and another was floating above watching him stare at the caskets. He was barely aware of the coworkers, neighbors, and other relatives in attendance. Mike reached up and touched the side of his face finding that it was numb. The only part of his body that had any feeling in it was his left hand. It throbbed in time with the beating of his broken heart. While the Priest went through the graveside service, Mike kept thinking that he would never hold Karen in his arms again. He wouldn't be able to teach Robert how to throw a ball, ride a bike, or take him camping. It wasn't just his family that had been killed, but his dreams for the future. For the second time of his life, Muslims had robbed him of his dreams for the future. Standing at attention to the left of Mike was his father. Robert's jaw clenched and unclenched as he considered the stupidity that had led to that situation. He kept staring at the two coffins thinking that just a little common sense on the part of judges and politicians could have prevented it from happening. Standing beside Robert was Mike's mother, Louise. She was in tears unable to believe that her daughter-in-law and grandson were dead. She kept thinking back to the last time she had babysat Robert. The time had flown by too quickly. The little boy had been such a dear little thing. Now he was gone. To Mike's left, Admiral Vincent Dougherty was busy holding up his wife. She was inconsolable at the loss of her daughter and grandson. She was supposed to have gone to the mall with them, but had been unable to make it there. Despite the fact that it was irrational, she couldn't keep from feeling guilty that she was still alive while they were dead. Vincent felt sorry for Mike. It was obvious to him that Mike felt responsible for what had happened to Karen. He knew better than to blame Mike for Karen's death. Karen had gone to the mall for the first time in three months. It was just bad luck that she had chosen that day. The terrorists were to blame for Karen's death. Despite his assurances to Mike that he wasn't to blame, it was obvious that young man blamed himself for her death. He needed to have a long talk with Mike to set his mind at peace. The problem was that between his wife and Mike, his wife needed his attention more. He was afraid that she was going to kill herself. The service had been over for almost half a minute before any of the five realized it. Mike turned to his in-laws and said, "I'm so sorry, Admiral. There's nothing I can say to convey how bad I feel at having failed to save Karen. You trusted me with her and I failed you in that trust." "You didn't fail me or my trust in you. It wasn't your fault," Vincent said in a voice heavy with grief. "I should be there with them," Sally said in a distant voice while staring at the grave site. Recognizing that Sally was in trouble, Mike said, "Admiral, don't worry about me. Sally needs you." "We'll talk," Vincent said before turning to his wife. He led Sally away from the gravesite and to the limousine. Mike and his parents headed to their limousine. As they went there, the protesters started shouting at them. When the protesters said that little Robert deserved to die, Mike leaned over to his father and said, "I'd just love to see what they shout when they become victims." The Colonel understood exactly what Mike meant. He wondered how they would feel if he stuck a knife up their ass while telling them that they deserved it. He looked over in the direction of the protesters and said, "One day they'll get theirs." Louise glared in the direction of the protesters. Disgusted by the glee the protesters were taking in their misery, she said, "They say they are Christians, but there is nothing Christian about them." "How can people be so cruel?" Robert frowned and said, "I do not like what has become of this world." ------- Chapter 18 After the funeral, Mike returned home to find that his lawn had been mowed. He stepped out of his car and looked at the freshly mowed grass. There were still bald patches that constituted an eyesore, but the lawn was improving. It was the first time he had been home since the morning of the attack on the mall. He had expected to see newspapers spread over the porch and mail billowing out of the mailbox. Instead, everything looked neat. Bob came over with a stack of mail in his hand. Not really knowing what to say, he said, "I brought your mail over." "Thanks, Bob. Thanks for everything," Mike said accepting the mail with his good hand. He slipped the mail between his left arm and body to hold it while allowing him to use his right hand. "I'm really sorry about Karen and Robert," Bob said in a sad voice. "Thank you," Mike said. He dimly recalled that Bob and his wife had been at the funeral. Bob looked at the bandages around Mike's left hand thinking that the whole story about him being in the hospital was a fabrication. He'd have known if Mike was going into the hospital. There was no way that he was going to ask about it though. There were times when Mike's knowledge about what was going on scared him. He asked, "How's your hand?" "It hurts," Mike answered looking at it. The dull throbbing pain of his hand was the one constant in his life. "The pain pills aren't helping?" Bob asked concerned. "I'm not taking any pain pills," Mike answered. It was his hope that the dull throbbing pain would keep his mind from the other problems in his life. It wasn't working. "Oh," Bob said frowning at the news. Bob licked his lips and started to say something, but stopped before the words came out. Nervous, he said, "Mike, I know you've had a horrible loss, but you do need to take care of yourself." Appreciating the concern, Mike gave his neighbor a weak smile and said, "Don't worry about me. I am taking care of myself. I just don't want the painkillers." Nodding his head, Bob said, "If you need anything, I'm just next door." "Thank you, Bob," Mike said. He appreciated the offer, but couldn't think of anything that he would need. That didn't diminish the value of the offer though. He said, "You're a good man, Bob. I appreciate your concern." After Bob returned home, Mike went into the house and looked around at it. There were a few of Robert's toys scattered around on the floor. There were other little signs that Karen had left the house fully intending to return home before Mike. There was the trace odor of rotten meat in the air. He was sure that his mother had thrown away some meat that Karen had put on the kitchen counter after she had taken it out of the freezer to defrost. Some dirty clothes were on the bed where Karen had changed before heading out to the mall. It seemed that no matter where he looked, there was something to remind him that Karen and Robert were no longer in his life. He dumped the mail he had been carrying around on the dining room table. Sorting through it took a few minutes. For the first time in his life, he was pleased to see bills. They distracted him for a few seconds and reminded him that life had to go on. He went into the living room and sat down in his chair. The rocking chair across the room from him reminded him of how he had watched Karen breastfeed Robert. It reminded him of how he had felt at the time. The tears followed and didn't stop for hours. ------- The situation screen at the head of the room showed a map completely covered by a complex array of colored dots of various sizes. More than a week away from the Internet Café had brought about some changes. It was obvious that the other analysts had made some progress in mapping out the terrorist network. Mike stared at the screen for a full minute and then asked, "Would someone explain to me what I'm looking at?" "We've taken the ideas that you had to their logical conclusion," Jack McElroy answered. He rose from his chair and walked to the front of the room. Pointing at the screen, he said, "The yellow dots are Muslim owned gas stations. We replaced the out-of-date census data with telephone data that we got from the NSA. The brightness of the green areas shows the density of people with the name Mohammed. By doing that we came up with a few more clusters of Muslims that didn't exist in 2000. The orange dots are locations with major Islamic schools." "The red dots show locations of major terrorist attacks. We've redefined what constitutes a major attack. It now requires a level of organization behind it rather than death toll. That changed the map significantly by discounting the attacks by individuals who are working alone," Shirley Holbrook said. That particular idea had been hers and she was quite proud of it. "There isn't a pattern to the major attacks," Mike said staring at the screen. "We think that is a pattern in itself," Shirley said getting excited. She shifted in her chair to look at Mike directly. "Why?" Shirley ran her fingers over the keyboard and the static display was replaced by a time lapse replay of major attacks. She said, "We figure they are using two teams to provide surveillance of a target. The first team is charged with identifying one or more targets. This team works for the primary mission planner and are considered indispensable. They are highly trained to know what kinds of things to look for in a target. However, they have to focus on one effort at time. That wouldn't let them attack too many high value targets. So they have a second team that goes in and fills in the details. "The second team doesn't know anything about the first team. They just receive some preliminary data about the target. They go through and do a detailed surveillance of the target area. They are expendable so that if they are caught it is not a great loss. They don't know much about the true organization beyond some low level messenger." "So what does that mean in terms of a lack of a pattern?" "The first team goes onto another location. They can't hang around in case the second team is caught and brings attention into the area. The result is that the first team is busy at work two or three sites ahead of the next attack," Shirley explained. Looking at all of the green dots, Mike asked, "Where in the hell did all of those people come from?" "From all over the world," Jack answered. Jim Donnelly said, "There has been a lot of conversion to Islam in the prisons. Unfortunately many of the Imams that have been visiting the prisons are radicals." "Have we made any progress in getting information about those isolated gas stations?" Mike asked. Jim answered, "We've been in contact with local law enforcement. They are watching the gas stations and providing weekly reports of activities there. The larger yellow dots are places where visitors have stayed for a day or two before moving on to their destination. We've been able to track the movements of people through the network now." Nodding, Mike studied the situation board for a full minute thinking about the detail of information presented in it. They had the populations mapped out and the movement networks identified. That was a significant result, but it wasn't enough. It still didn't identify the critical individuals who were planning the operations. It didn't give them insight into what was going to happen next. He asked, "What are you working on now?" "We're stuck," Jack answered. Mike said, "Let's do one thing more. I'd like to see what happens when we add INS data detailing the destination cities specified on visa applications over the past year. I want to concentrate on individuals from Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Palestine, Egypt, and Syria." Shirley said, "We don't have anyone from INS here." "I'll correct that situation," Mike said moving over to the telephone. Five minutes later an agent from the INS had been assigned to report to their location the following morning. Mike sat down at his chair focused entirely on the problems facing them. There was one problem that no one had reported upon. He asked, "So what is going on with respect to the two missing rail guns?" "We think they are in the Washington DC area," Charlie answered. "Why do you say that?" Mike asked. Charlie brought up a map of the Maryland, Virginia, and DC area on another screen. There were half a dozen places marked on the map with crosses. He answered, "We believe that all of the rail guns were in the area on the morning of the attack on our locations. We think there was a problem that morning and two of them were unable to make it to their assigned locations. We've identified a number of businesses owned by Muslims that have facilities where they could hide the rail guns." "Is that it?" Mike asked thinking it was pretty flimsy thinking. "Well, we did discover that four Muslim males were arrested for drunk driving the night before the attack. We think they were the reason that the rail guns didn't make it to their targets. With all of the attention by the police, I'd say it is a pretty good bet that the terrorists have not had a chance to move the rail guns," Charlie answered with a grin. He waited for the next question. "Where did they work?" Mike asked. "At the businesses marked with the two largest crosses," Charlie answered. Jim said, "We've got people watching all of those locations. If they try to move out, we'll see it and nab them." Shaking his head, Mike said, "You say they were arrested drinking. That isn't exactly what we'd expect of good Muslim men. Maybe we can get them drunk and they'll tell us what we want to know." "We can't," Charlie said. "Why not?" Mike asked. He hadn't been serious about getting them drunk, but Charlie's comment required clarification. Charlie said, "They turned up dead two days after they had been arrested." "Shot?" "Their heads were cut off," Charlie answered. ------- The ringing of the telephone woke Mike from his afternoon nap. It seemed to him that he was sleeping all of the time that he was away from work. He staggered out of his chair and answered the telephone with a gruff, "Hello." "Hello, Mike. This is Sanjay." Mike shook his head to jump start his brain. Trying to sound a little more cheerful, Mike said, "Hello, Sanjay. How are you doing?" "I am fine, Mike. Teva found some very nice Angus beef steaks that are cut an inch and a half thick. Would you like to come over for Barbecue tomorrow night?" Sanjay asked. To say that Mike wasn't tempted to answer yes would be a lie. For the past week he had not had any interaction with anyone outside of work. Instead, he answered, "I'd like to do that, but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be very good company. I'm really sorry, but I have to refuse. Thanks for the offer, though." Sanjay was silent for a good ten seconds trying to come up with an answer. Finally, he said, "Don't worry about being good company. We would just like to see you." "I'm sorry, but I can't yet," Mike said. After the call was over, Sanjay turned to his wife and said, "He is very sad. I'm worried about him." ------- Vincent Dougherty was not the kind of man who accepted no in response to an invitation. Feeling very ill at ease, Mike found himself seated in Vincent's study drinking two fingers of scotch. If he hadn't respected the Admiral so much, he would have swallowed the scotch in one go and asked for a refill. Instead, he took a small sip of his drink before saying, "I'm sorry that I couldn't protect Karen." Letting loose with a sigh, Vincent said, "I am tired of dealing with people who feel guilty for things that were beyond their control. Sally is practically suicidal because she feels guilty that she hadn't gone to the mall with Karen. Can you imagine that?" "Yes," Mike answered understanding it only too well. "I don't understand it." "I do," Mike said in a flat emotionless tone of voice. "I don't. Could you explain it to me?" Vincent replied watching Mike carefully. "She believes that if she had gone with them to the mall that things would have turned out differently. She thinks that if she had gone, Karen would still be alive," Mike answered. "Do you believe that it would have turned out any differently if she had gone with Karen?" Vincent asked. "Yes. We would have had to bury Sally too," Mike answered confident of his answer. "You don't think she would have realized what was going on?" "No," Mike answered. "Why?" The attack had been extremely subtle. No one would have thought twice about a store filled with heaters, air conditioners, and dehumidifiers running a humidifier or having operational humidifiers scattered around the mall with advertising of the store's grand opening. No one would think that the humidifier was spraying Sarin into the atmosphere rather than water vapor. They would have walked past without a second thought. He answered, "The attack was extremely clever." "Would you have caught it?" Vincent asked. Mike shook his head and answered, "No. I walked past the source several times and didn't think anything of it despite knowing that something was killing people there." "So why are you blaming yourself for her death?" Vincent asked looking Mike directly in the eye. "I am supposed to protect her from harm. She died and I wasn't even there," Mike answered. Shaking his head, Vincent knew that Mike was by Karen's side at the end. He said, "I can't blame you for Karen's death anymore than I can blame Sally. Karen was in the wrong place at the wrong time. That is a fact." "I know," Mike said taking a good sip of his scotch. He looked at his father-in-law and said, "It doesn't make me feel any better knowing that, Admiral. I keep thinking about all of the things that I could have done, but didn't do." "Like what?" "Tell her not to go to the mall," Mike said. Snorting, Vincent asked, "Do you really think you could have kept Karen from going to the mall? Before you answer that, remember that I've known her ever since she was a baby." "I probably couldn't have done that," Mike said. "So stop beating yourself up over it." "I'll try," Mike said believing that it was an impossible task. ------- Mike watched the evening news on the Wolf News Channel. There was an interview with Anthony Archer. He was sandwiched between a conservative and a liberal reporter. The conservative reporter said, "You are a candidate in a conservative party. I've looked through your record and there is very little in there about your positions on a number of conservative issues. For example, what is your position on abortion?" "That's a non-issue," Anthony Archer answered. Surprised by the answer, the conservative reporter asked, "What do you mean that is a non-issue? If you are elected President, you'll be putting justices on the Supreme Court." "I mean that it is a non-issue. We are not facing a crisis of abortion in this country. We are not facing a crisis of family values. We are not facing a crisis of stem cell research. I'm sorry, but all of those subjects mean absolutely nothing in this election," Anthony said. Even though he was fully prepared to disagree with the positions of a conservative candidate, the liberal reporter was surprised to find that the man didn't care about the issues. He asked, "What do you mean they mean nothing in this election?" "There is only one issue that is important. We have terrorists killing Americans in our home towns. If we don't take care of that problem, it won't matter who I appoint to the Supreme Court," Anthony answered. "You can't be serious," said the liberal reporter. The expression on his face looked like he had just bitten into a lemon. Anthony looked at the liberal reporter and said, "I'm very serious. We are very close to losing our entire government. Earlier this year, four policemen prevented terrorists from destroying the White House and killing the majority of the members of Congress. Three times this year the National Guard has been called upon to restore order inside our cities. If we don't stop the terrorists before they successfully bring down our government, then we won't have a constitution protecting our rights." "You are a fascist looking to get elected by running a campaign based on fear," the liberal reporter said. "Wake up! I'm running a campaign based on reality and not politics. Three weeks ago, my wife was killed by terrorists in a shopping mall. The terrorists released Sarin gas that killed over a hundred people. This wasn't one crackpot individual working alone. At least twenty people were involved in planning and carrying out this plot. It wasn't a crime of passion! It wasn't a crime of revenge! It was an organized direct attack on the United States of America," Anthony said. "You've lost your objectivity because of the tragedy that befell your wife. I think that is a very dangerous failing in a man who wants to be President," the liberal reporter replied feeling rather smug at the comment. "I respectfully disagree with you. I am objective. The problem is that you are not objective. You can not face facts without allowing your political position to interfere with an objective assessment of the events occurring around you. Over five thousand Americans have been killed by radical Muslims; we have had riots in the streets as a result of a breakdown of social order; and our government was nearly destroyed by individuals acting under the orders of a foreign government. "Those are facts! You can look them up. No matter what motivations you want to apply to the terrorists, you can't change the fact that they are killing Americans. Those people aren't citizens of this country. You can't change the fact that they are acting under the orders of foreign leadership. You can't change the fact that they are destroying the social order of this country. "If we want to save this country, we have to respond. That is the only issue that is of any significance in this campaign," Anthony said. "That's a very radical and fascist position you are taking," the liberal reporter said. Anthony smiled at him and asked, "Do you care about a woman's freedom to choose an abortion? Do you think it is important that two people of the same gender are free to marry each other?" "Yes." "I'm glad to hear you say that. If we don't act soon to stop the terrorists, then all of those issues will be decided for us. Islamic law is very clear on all of those issues," Anthony said with a chilling smile. The conservative reporter said, "While I agree with you on the issue of protecting this country, I'm still concerned about your stance on other issues." "Then you're just as much of a fool as the other guy," Anthony Archer replied. ------- In the middle of a Saturday afternoon several weeks after the funeral, an elderly oriental woman knocked on Mike's door. After checking through the peep hole, Mike opened the door and asked, "What do you want?" "Teva sent me," the woman answered catching a glimpse of the gun in his hand. Unfazed by the weapon, she peered around Mike to check out the house. She was surprised to find that it was spotless. She had expected it to be a mess. "Teva sent you?" Mike asked wondering why Sanjay's wife would send this woman to his house. "Yes," answered the woman as she pushed her way around Mike and into the house. Surprised by the force with which the woman had pushed him aside, Mike raised his pistol to point it at her. She was a tiny woman, barely five feet tall. Her gray streaked hair was cut in a short utilitarian style. He lowered the pistol and asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm your new housekeeper," the woman answered moving towards the kitchen. She poked her head in the kitchen and saw that it was clean. Shaking her head, she said, "You can put away the gun now." Wondering what he was supposed to do with a housekeeper, Mike put the pistol back in the table drawer. He said, "As you can see, I don't need a housekeeper." "You are a man living alone. That is reason enough for you to have a housekeeper," the woman said. When he was about to argue, she waved a finger at him as she added, "Teva has sent me to be your housekeeper. You have no choice in the matter." "Why would Teva send you to be my housekeeper?" Mike asked looking at the fiery little woman. "You saved Sanjay," the woman answered. She went over to one of the bedrooms. Opening the door, she looked inside finding that it was the nursery. Nodding her head, she said, "This will be my room." "What?" Mike asked. "My bags are in the car. Please bring them inside," the woman said with the calm assurance that her orders would be obeyed. Mike stared at the woman wondering where on Earth Teva had found her. Giving up, he asked, "What is your name?" "I am Kim Sung," she answered giving him a slight bow with her head. ------- Chapter 19 Mike was seated in his chair staring at the situation screen at the front of the room. Looking over at Charlie, he asked, "What's going on with the surveillance on the locations where we believe the rail guns are held?" "Nothing," Charlie answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "I'm tired of waiting," Mike said leaning forward. "We can't move until we have a better indication that some sort of crime has occurred," Jim said knowing that Mike would skin anyone alive who jeopardized their ability to prosecute the terrorists. He wished that they could ship them off to Gitmo, but the President had closed it down the year before. Mike picked up the telephone and dialed a number. When the party on the other end answered, he said, "Hello, I am Mike Bowman from the Department of Homeland Security. I'd like to speak to the Fire Chief." It only took a minute before the Fire Chief answered, "Hello, I'm Chief Hanson." "Hello, Chief Hanson. I'm Mike Bowman from the Department of Homeland Security. We would like you to come down to our office for a security briefing." "When?" "I want you here yesterday, but I'll settle for now," Mike answered. He gave the address and hung up. Jim looked at Mike and asked, "The Fire Chief?" "That is a place of business. As such, the Fire Chief has a legal obligation to occasionally inspect for fire code violations. You know what I mean. They have to make sure that all of the fire exit signs light up and that the fire extinguishers are operational. I'm pretty sure that none of the businesses in that area have been inspected lately," Mike answered with a smile. "So if the Fire Chief knows what to look for when he's inspecting a couple of businesses and he happens to see a rail gun then that gives us a reason to bust them," Jim said with a smile. Charlie laughed and said, "That's why you're the boss." Two hours later, Fire Chief Hanson left the Internet Café knowing more about the kinds of weapons that terrorists used than he ever wanted to know. It had been suggested that he personally attend to the inspection of every business in a two block area starting at nine o'clock the following morning. The wallet of the Fire Chief had a card with a cell phone number on it that he was to call in case any place that he inspected had anything suspicious looking in it. When the Fire Chief left the building, Mike turned to Charlie and said, "Charlie, get a strike team of local law enforcement types assembled tomorrow morning at nine in the parking lot of a donut shop at least twelve blocks from the target business." "Yes, sir," Charlie said reaching for the phone. "I'll be there," Mike said. Turning to Jim, Mike said, "I want aerial photographs of every building in the area. See if you can find the architectural drawings as well." "Yes sir." Mike picked up the telephone and called Sanjay. ------- Mike entered the house to find Kim Sung standing in the middle of the living room with her arms crossed against her chest. So far their relationship had been pretty peaceful. He ignored her and she left him alone. Based on the way she was looking at him, he had a feeling that was about to change. She said, "You are too tense. It is not good for a man to be so tense. Get undressed and lie down on the massage table. Kim Sung will fix you." "What? I'm supposed to get undressed with you standing here?" Mike asked. "I'm an old woman. You have nothing I haven't seen before," Kim answered. Somehow the tone of voice that she had used when answering his question made him feel about three feet tall. He said, "You can't be serious." "Very serious. You get undressed now. I not tell you again," Kim said shaking a finger at him. Mike wondered if the authoritative manner possessed by the little woman could be bottled and sold over the counter. People would pay big money to be able to give orders like her. Deciding that he didn't want to know what would happen if he didn't do as she commanded; he undressed and stretched out on the massage table. Kim Sung walked over to the table and said, "On your back. We start with your front so that your back relaxes before I ever get to it." Embarrassed, Mike turned over so that he was face up. Kim stepped up and started massaging his scalp. Her fingers were firm and her touch confident. Mike sighed at the sensations. Kim Sung said, "Very tense. Not good for man to be so tense." About ten minutes into the massage, Mike fell asleep. He woke long enough to turn over on his stomach. He woke almost two hours after the massage had begun to a tickling sensation running up and down his back. Kim Sung was running her fingers up and down his back with a feather light touch. When she told him to turn over, Mike rolled over without questioning her. She resumed running her fingers up and down his body. Mike closed his eyes enjoying the sensation. The next thing he knew, a hand was wrapped around his cock jacking him off while the other hand was tickling his balls. He hadn't even been aware that he had an erection. His come exploded out from his cock. The next thing he knew, a warm moist towel was being used to wipe up his ejaculate. In a satisfied voice, Kim Sung said, "Now you not so tense. Relax. When you are ready, go take a shower." Embarrassed about what had just happened, Mike said, "You shouldn't have done that." "I'm old woman. Nothing happen here that I haven't seen happen thousands of times," Kim Sung said in a matter of fact voice. She looked down at him and added, "I go in kitchen now and prepare supper." ------- Sanjay took a sip of his coffee. Over the lip of the foam cup he saw Mike walk into the donut shop. He raised a hand to get Mike's attention while setting down the cup of coffee. He said, "I already got you a cup of coffee, Mike." Mike walked over to the table where Sanjay was seated. Sliding into the seat, he said, "I'm glad you could come." "Is this one for Dale?" Sanjay asked. "I hope so," Mike answered. He moved his wrist as though to check his watch, but remembered at the last moment that he wasn't wearing it. He looked at the bandaged hand wondering how much longer he was going to have to wear the bandages. With his typical head bobble, Sanjay said, "That is good. I have been waiting for this day for a long time." "Same here," Mike said. He wondered when they would be in a position to roll up all of the terrorists. He added, "We're going to have to wait a little while longer. We'll be getting a telephone call to let us know that we can move in." "That's okay. I like donuts and coffee. Sometimes I think I should have been a cop," Sanjay said with a grin. Mike laughed and said, "We'll see how you feel about that if we're here until five this afternoon." Sanjay smiled at hearing Mike laugh. It had been a long time since he had seen the man even crack a smile. He asked, "How is Kim Sung working out?" That was the million dollar question. After the massage the previous evening, Kim Sung had been the ever efficient housekeeper giving no hint of embarrassment about what had happened earlier. He said, "She has this tone of voice she uses when..." "Ah, she's used the voice on you," Sanjay said bobbling his head. "Yes," Mike said. "My wife taught her that voice. I would have warned you, but my wife told me not to do that. She used the voice on me," Sanjay said lifting his hands up and out in a gesture of surrender. The first call from Fire Chief Hanson came in around eleven. He had found the materials used to create IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) in the work bay of a gas station. Mike had told him to continue his inspections since they were after bigger fish. Chief Hanson was not happy to learn that he was likely to discover something even worse than IEDs. After hanging up, Mike called the local police for another strike force to assemble. He was going to send them against the gas station to take care of the IEDs. He warned them to bring a Bomb Disposal group with them. That little piece of information created a minor uproar at the police station. The second telephone call came in about one o'clock. The Fire Chief had found two vans with suspicious looking equipment inside of them. This was the one that Mike had been waiting for all morning. Smiling, he told the Chief Hanson, "Continue searching businesses in the area." "You've got to be kidding. I nearly pissed myself when I saw what was in those vans," the Fire Chief said. He knew enough to believe that there was a good chance that radioactive material was in the area. "We're after the whole ball of wax, Chief Hanson. Continue with your inspections," Mike said. After hanging up, Mike turned to Sanjay and said, "We've got them now." "Let's go," Sanjay said. "Not yet. We still have to get the warrants," Mike said while looking through the contact list on his cell phone. Finding the number, he said, "Let me call in the information and then we'll brief the assault force." Ten minutes later, Mike was out in the parking lot of the donut store surrounded by the SWAT teams from three local cities. Only one member of the three teams was a woman. Smiling, he opened the trunk of his car and said, "Lady and Gentlemen, please empty your guns of all ammunition. I've got some special rounds for you to use." The members of the SWAT team gave Mike a disgusted look. They knew their business and didn't need anyone telling them what kind of ammunition to use. Most of them actually loaded their own ammunition to achieve a higher velocity. Ignoring the looks he was given, Mike reached into the trunk and held up a bullet. In a calm voice, he said, "This ammunition is known as a cop killer because it will penetrate a Kevlar vest. I want you to load your weapons with it because I expect that the individuals who we are going after will be wearing Kevlar vests." "Shit," the captain of one of the teams said at the idea of going up against individuals wearing Kevlar vests. Sanjay chuckled at the comment knowing that the reaction of the SWAT teams was only going to get worse. Mike grinned and said, "The first team is going into a gas station. We've had a tip that they are in the process of making Improvised Explosive Devices. They may already have one ready, so if anyone moves in a manner that suggests they are going to explode such a device you should be ready to kill them. If they go for a phone, fire on them. Once you start firing, don't stop until everyone is dead. Do you understand me?" "You're giving us shoot to kill orders?" "I'm telling you that they may have one or more live bombs inside a gas station. They could be on top of the petroleum storage tanks for all we know. The last thing I want is to lose you in a great fireball," Mike answered. Members of the other two teams nudged members of the first team and made comments about how they were glad not to be going into the gas station. Holding up aerial photographs of the gas station, Sanjay said, "If the first team and the Bomb Squad will come with me, I will brief you on the layout of the gas station. You can plan on how you will take it." Mike said, "Team two will be entering a tire store. We've had a tip that in the back bay of the tire store are two vans that contain rail guns. It is believed that somewhere inside that facility is radioactive material. If anyone grabs something the size of a soda can, you are to open fire. We know that there should be six people inside. All six of them are suspects." "Radioactive materials? Shit." "That's right," Mike said. He looked over at the third team for a moment. Holding up his bandaged left hand, he said, "Team three is going to be guarding the back of Team two. I lost use of this hand when my team entered a facility like this in Iraq. The bastards had constructed a tunnel out and came up behind us. I lost a third of my team that day. I don't want that to happen here. Watch the buildings as well. They may have support in them." Mike had just finished speaking when his cell phone rang. It was Chief Hanson. The man said, "I just got out of a place that is filled with guns. The place overlooks the tire store." "Is it next to the tire store or across the street from it?" Mike asked wondering if the Chief had inspected the building from which they were watching the tire store. "Next to it." "Thank you, Chief Hanson," Mike said. "I'm sorry, but I'm done for the day," Chief Hanson said. "I just have one more place for you to go," Mike said with a smile. "No." "Across the street from the tire store is an office building. Room 312 overlooks the tire store. We've got a team in there. You might want to go there and watch the action," Mike said. He felt that the Chief had done enough to deserve to watch the outcome of his efforts. "Okay," Chief Hanson said thinking that it would be a story to tell the wife and children for the next couple of days. Thinking about it, he decided that it would be a story to tell his grandchildren in a few years. After hanging up, Mike reached into the trunk of his car and pulled out a grenade launcher. He asked, "Does anyone know how to use one of these?" "Shit." ------- Mike stood in an alley a block away from the tire factory. A dozen steps away, Sanjay was poking around in some bushes. He stepped back and said, "This looks odd." "What is it?" "There's a three foot by three foot piece of plywood on the ground in the middle of these bushes," Sanjay answered. The alley didn't offer much in the way of cover. Mike looked over at a huge dumpster and said, "Help me move that away from the wall." Together, the two men pushed the dumpster three feet from the wall. Mike and Sanjay got behind the dumpster so that Mike was able to watch the bushes. Sanjay pulled out his gun and said, "I've been practicing, but I've never had to fire it at a person." "Just stay back here and watch my back. I know you'll do okay if things don't work out right," Mike said with a wink. "Your confidence in me is undeserved," Sanjay said swallowing heavily. He looked around and asked, "Would you tell me again why we are here and not watching it from the other building?" "We didn't have enough men to cover this area," Mike said. He secretly hoped that one or two of the terrorists would head in their direction. The desire to take out a couple of them was almost overwhelming. He thumbed his headset and said, "Rear guard number eleven and twelve in position." Two minutes later the sounds of a major gun battle filled the air. Sanjay started to say something, but Mike put a finger up to his mouth in the universal gesture to be quiet. Mike eased the safety off his pistol and watched the bushes. There was a huge explosion. Mike figured that someone had launched a grenade into the store filled with guns. The gunfire had ended when the bushes started to shake. Mike smiled and took aim. Time seemed to slow down. A man carrying a pistol stepped out of the bushes and looked around. Mike lowered his pistol a little and waited to see what the man was going to do. The man raised his pistol towards Mike, but Mike was ready. With a slight squeeze of the trigger he blew the man's balls off. Mike waited for two minutes to see if anyone else came out of the bushes. Convinced that it was safe, he stepped out from behind the dumpster and approached the man rolling in agony on the ground. Kneeling down next to him, Mike said, "You might get your virgins when you die, but you aren't going to be able to do anything with them." Sanjay came up behind Mike and looked down at the man on the ground. With a shudder, he said, "Oh, I bet that hurts." "Yes, I imagine it does," Mike answered. Hearing a noise behind them, Mike turned and saw another Arab man entering the alley with an assault rifle. The man had just spotted the pair of them. With his left hand, Mike pushed Sanjay down and opened fire on the man running towards them. It took four shots before the man fell to the ground. The pain in his left hand was excruciating. The man who Mike had originally shot tried to get up. Sanjay kicked out and hit him where the balls had been. The man fell back to the ground. Shaken, Sanjay looked over at the second man that Mike had shot and thumbed his headset. In a voice that sounded a lot calmer than he felt, Sanjay said, "Reinforcements are coming into the area. Watch your backs." Moving over to Mike, Sanjay asked, "Are you okay?" "Yes," Mike answered. The pain in his hand had already diminished to a level that he could ignore. "You saved my life," Sanjay said not looking at Mike. He was watching the approaches to their position for threats. In the background was the sound of gunfire. It sounded like Sanjay's warning was just in time. Sirens sounded as hundreds of police cars headed towards the area. A minor war had begun that lasted for half an hour. ------- Bored, Mike and Sanjay sat in the hospital waiting for the doctor to return. The television was on with live coverage of the Republican Convention. Mike said, "Well, it looks like Anthony Archer is going to be the Republican candidate for President." "That is good news," Sanjay said with his usual head bobble. Mike noticed the head bobble and realized that it had stopped bothering him. He smiled and said, "I have to agree with you." "I want to thank you for including me," Sanjay said. He really felt like he had put his life on the line for his country. It felt good despite the fear that had been involved. He had actually fired his gun when additional re-enforcements had entered the alley. "They attacked the two of us back in the old headquarters building. It was only fair that we work together when it was time to catch them," Mike said with a smile. "It was for Dale," Sanjay said. He added, "Maybe when we are done here we can go upstairs and tell him." "That would be a good idea," Mike said. The doctor returned with the x-rays and clipped them on the light box. Shaking her head, she said, "You're lucky. There is a bit of bruising, but nothing is broken. The pain you felt was from pulling the connective tissue of the two bad fingers. You're going to have to start rehabilitation of those two fingers." "Good," Mike said looking down at his hand. The bandages were off and there were some very ugly scars, but nothing was open and bleeding. "I'm going to leave the bandages off," the doctor said. "Great," Mike said. Sanjay and Mike stepped off the elevator and made their way towards Dale's room. A rather harried nurse stopped them and said, "Visiting hours are over." Mike said, "We are here to see Dale Dawson. I'm sure that you can make an exception for us." The nurse took a moment to look at the pair of men. Shaking her head, she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't recognize you at first. It's been a very busy night because of the gunfight with the terrorists." "That's okay," Mike said. "Would you come to the nurses' station with me?" the nurse asked. "Sure," Mike said following the nurse. Sanjay fell into step beside Mike. When they reached the nurses station, the woman said, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but Dale Dawson passed away early this morning." "It is with great sorrow that we hear that news," Sanjay said looking down at the floor. "You can say that again," Mike said. ------- Chapter 20 Mike wore the same suit that he had worn at the funeral of his wife and child. Putting it on had reminded him of that horrible day. The funeral for Dale wasn't quite the same circus. There were over fifty members of the Intelligence 100 present to give their respects to one of the founders of the group. For some reason, Mike was asked to give the eulogy. Stepping to the front of the room, Mike looked at the faces in the room. There was an undercurrent of anger at the loss of one of their own. He understood the anger. This was a death that could have been avoided if the policy makers of Washington had been doing their jobs. They hadn't so the terrorists had come to America. He stepped up to the podium and, after a five second pause, said, "It is a tradition that when a member of the CIA is killed in the line of duty that a star is carved into the CIA Memorial Wall and his name added to the Memorial Book. That wall and the book are now shrouded in the radioactive dust that took Dale's life. "Dale Dawson was the kind of man who fought so that our traditions could remain. I intend to keep that tradition alive. I don't know how I'll do it, but the Memorial Book containing the names of fallen agents and the CIA Memorial Wall on which their stars are carved shall be removed from the Old Headquarters Building of the CIA and established in an honored place. His name shall be recorded and a star carved honoring his service. In fact, all the names of agents who fell in that attack will be added to the book and a star carved in their honor. "Dale Dawson was a Marine. He was ever faithful. Semper Fi." From around the room, a shout of OoRah was raised. Mike returned to his seat thinking that it had to be the shortest eulogy of modern times. ------- "It's hard to believe that the local fire chief stumbled across such a dangerous assortment of terrorists the day after getting briefed on the subject by a small section of Homeland Security. The local police really handled the situation well although it is rather surprising that they were all carrying cop killer ammunition," Jack Lancer said. He smiled at Mike. Tim Collins said, "Yes. They managed to bring down almost fifty terrorists without any help from Homeland Security. The President is really pleased that local law enforcement is able to handle such a large threat." Mike shook his head and said, "Six cops were killed and another thirty eight were wounded." "Some of that was friendly fire," John Daniels said. It was also because a number of the policemen weren't wearing body armor when they charged into the situation. It was only with great difficulty that the SWAT teams had managed to regain control of the situation after the regular police had arrived. Larry Dinkins said, "You handled that situation very well. I think that we can all rest easier knowing that the two missing rail guns have been found. Of course, if the President even suspected that we were involved he'd be firing people left and right." "I know," Mike said. The President was so far behind in the polls that it looked like there wasn't even a need for an election. He was at the point where he was looking for a scapegoat on which to blame all of the recent failures of his policy. "Your group succeeded in their mission in terms of finding the two missing rail guns. You still need to track down the factory where they were manufactured," John Daniels said. "Did the guy that Sanjay and I dumped in the escape tunnel talk?" Grinning, Jack asked, "Do you mean the guy you shot in the balls?" "Yes," Mike answered. "He sang like a castrati," John said with a grin while everyone else groaned. The wounded man had been carried off by another member of the Intelligence 100. It had taken a little convincing before the man realized that it was in his best interests to talk. "What did we learn?" Mike asked. It was his hope that the man was more than just a low level follower. "He told us that the rail guns were built in Nevada with parts brought in from Washington state and Illinois. He didn't know where the parts were actually made, but he did know that they were assembled in a warehouse north of Las Vegas," John said. ------- Mike was driving home from work one night when a police car pulled behind him and turned on his lights for him to pull over. Looking down at his speedometer, Mike saw that he had been driving ten miles an hour over the speed limit. Considering the speed of the other cars on the street, it was a ridiculous stop. He pulled over to the side of the road and pulled out his identification. When the cop knocked on his window, Mike rolled down the window and looked up at the cop. The cop took one look at Mike and said, "It's you." "What?" Mike asked. "You're the one who shot that terrorist," the cop said. At the reminder, Mike recognized the cop and smiled. Chuckling, he said, "No. The news reports that I saw said that you shot him." The cop shook his head and said, "Mister, I saw you there. You stepped in front of that van and fired off four shots before jumping out of the way. I even told you that it was good shooting." "The official story is that I wasn't there," Mike said. As far as the cop knew, there was only one person at the incident whose identity was a secret. A light went off in the cop's head and he stared at Mike. In a soft voice, he said, "You're the guy in the photograph, aren't you?" "The official story is that I wasn't there," Mike answered with a frown. He detested that photograph. The cop said, "Put away your ID. I don't want to know who you are." "Thanks," Mike said putting away his wallet. The cop looked away for a second and then looked back at Mike. In a voice tight with emotion, he said, "I feel guilty about having been given credit for killing that terrorist. I tried to deny it, but no body listened. The guys who identified me won't look me in the eye. They know that it was your kill, not mine." Hating to be reminded of that day, Mike said, "They needed a hero and you were chosen to play that role. Don't feel guilty about that. You played the role well and I thank you for that. The President feels that Homeland Security is the cause of all the terrorism. We aren't supposed to interfere in local matters. I wasn't supposed to be there. We are supposed to sit back in our offices and give warnings rather than be involved." "That sucks," the policeman said. Mike laughed at a phrase that had become all too common amongst those who were charged with protecting the American people against those who wanted to harm them. He asked, "Who are you voting for?" "Anthony Archer," the cop answered with a grin. He added the campaign slogan, "He's taking aim at terrorism." "Maybe when there's a new President, you and I can sit down for a drink," Mike said. "I'd appreciate that," the cop said. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. As he handed it to Mike, he said, "If you ever need anything, give me a call." Mike took the card and put it into his pocket. He said, "Thanks. Don't feel guilty about being labeled a hero for my actions. You saved my ass and I appreciate it." Feeling a lot better, the cop said, "Thanks. Anyway, the reason I pulled you over was to let you know that you had a bad tail light." "Oh, I didn't know that," Mike said. He wondered if he had knocked off a wire when he had handing out the ammunition the previous week. He said, "Let me check the trunk." "Sure," the cop said. He walked to the back of the car while Mike popped the trunk open from inside the car. Mike hadn't reached the back of the car when he noticed the cop backing away. He looked in the back and realized that he was still hauling a case of cop killer bullets. He also noticed one of the wires hanging down. He plugged it in and the rear light came on. Looking up at the cop, he said, "That fixed it." "You were the one who provided all of the ammunition at the gunfight last week," the cop said wondering who this guy really was. "The official story is that I wasn't there," Mike said with a straight face. The cop gave a nervous laugh and said, "I'm out of here. You take care of yourself." Mike returned to the driver's seat of his car as the cop pulled away. He reached into his pocket and glanced at the card the policeman had given him. He burst out laughing at the irony of the situation. Watching the cop car disappear down the road, he said, "You have a good day, Officer Mike Bowman." ------- In the months since she had started as his housekeeper, Kim Sung had given him three massages. Mike couldn't believe how good the massage felt. She really knew how to work out all of the muscular tension in his body. The climax at the end was rather amazing as well despite the business-like manner in which she approached it. He decided that her attitude about the whole thing was a cultural matter. At the end of the massage today, Kim Sung deviated from her normal command for him to shower and get ready for dinner. She stayed in place for a minute and then asked, "Do you want a younger woman to be your housekeeper?" Surprised by the question, Mike answered, "No. Why do you ask?" "I am old woman and not good to look at. We want you to be very happy," Kim Sung said. She was concerned that Mike had not asked for additional favors or even requested more frequent massages. The man she had served in the past had been much more demanding of her. "You are perfectly fine," Mike answered without having to wonder who it was that wanted him happy. He had gotten used to her quiet manner and how she moved through the house without drawing attention to herself. She made breakfasts and dinners; cleaned the house; and washed his clothes. Even when there were problems, she approached them with a calm manner that he found comforting. "A younger woman could warm your bed," Kim Sung said looking down at the floor. "I do not want a woman in my bed," Mike said sharply. Kim Sung nodded her head. In a very soft voice, she said, "I understand." "Thank you," Mike said. Kim Sung studied Mike wondering what else she could do to make his life more pleasant. She would talk to Teva that weekend when Mike went over for dinner. Nodding her head, she said, "Take a shower and then come out for dinner." ------- Cathy brought Mike a cup of coffee without being asked. She had learned over time that Mike would keep glancing in the direction of the coffee maker before getting up to pour a cup. Accepting the cup from her, Mike said, "Thank you, Cathy." "You're welcome," she answered. She liked Mike and the fact that the more tense things got there, the more polite he became. Glancing at the satellite feed, she could see that the strike force was about to attack an old factory building in Illinois. A line of fifty police cars were racing down the road towards their target. "Jesus," Mike exclaimed at the sudden activity at the factory. The lead police car had turned into a ball of flame as an explosive device blew up. Additional explosions took out another handful of cars. "This is a fucking disaster," Charlie said staring the scene. Armed men boiled out of the factory building. They were headed towards the dozen or so cars that had run off the road in an attempt to avoid additional explosions. Horrified by what they were seeing, the analysts watched as the strike force was cut down by a fully equipped army of terrorists. Even the police helicopter had been shot down with a shoulder launched missile. Mike picked up the phone and dialed a number. When the call connected, he said, "Governor, this is Mike Bowman from Homeland Security. Call off the operation on the factory outside of Seattle right now." "They're ready to move in. Why should I call it off?" asked the Governor worried at about the request. He knew who Mike Bowman was since the man and his team had provided most of the intelligence about the factory they were about to raid. "The strike force on the factory in Illinois is in the process of being massacred," Mike answered. "How bad is it?" the Governor asked finding it hard to breath. "I'd estimate that at least fifty state troopers have been killed. They even shot down the police helicopter. The fighting is still going on," Mike answered unable to remove his eyes from the satellite feed. State troopers, recognizing that they didn't stand a chance, were retreating in a disorganized manner. "Okay," the Governor said. His words were followed by the click of the phone being put on hold as the Governor reacted to the news. Time was of the essence and polite chitchat would only eat up precious seconds. Mike watched as re-enforcements started pouring into the area of the factory. Unfortunately, they were not on the side of law enforcement. Awed at what he was seeing, Jim said, "There must be a thousand of them there." Mike hung up the phone and dialed another number. When the party at the other end of the line answered, he said, "This is Mike Archer from Homeland Security. You need to mobilize the National Guard. You're going to need tanks and air support." "I'm already on it," answered the Governor. Mike could hear shouting in the background. It was obvious that he was on the speakerphone in the emergency operations center. Putting a hand over the handset, Mike looked at Joe and said, "Send out word that all of our locations are to go on red alert. Those bastards are likely to attack us." Surprised by that assessment, Joe nodded his head while reaching for the phone. In a low growl, he said, "It is time to send in the Marines." The battle had lasted more than an hour. The sudden appearance of a military helicopter fully loaded for a fight had quickly turned the engagement around. The fifty caliber machine guns made short work of the men on the field. The rockets took out the fixed emplacements. When two more helicopters made their appearance, the resistance collapsed very quickly. Unfortunately, there were not enough people in the area to prevent a mass exodus of terrorists from the site of the battle. By the time it was over nearly a hundred terrorists had been killed and another four hundred of them had been wounded. Unfortunately, more than five hundred had gotten away. Mike had watched a car leave that he knew carried the leaders and was frustrated that they didn't have the resources to track it down. The fatalities on the part of law enforcement had been over forty officers killed. Most of those fatalities had occurred early in the engagement. The State Troopers and local cops that had been near the end of the convoy headed towards the factory had managed to back out before the attackers got in range. There had been a lot of lead fired in the direction of law enforcement. Mike stared at the carnage left behind that was being broadcast by the news stations once the fighting had ended. He had tried to warn the Governors that there would be stiff resistance, but they didn't believe his assessment of the situation. Despite the warnings by Mike that they were going after fighters, the police were unable to believe that it wouldn't end up in stand off situation like what had happened when Federal Agents had tried to serve a warrant on the Branch Davidians. Mike felt a little guilty about how things had turned out. The problem was that Mike hadn't imagined that there would be that many terrorists there and that they would be so heavily armed. It was a stupid mistake on his part that he had underestimated the enemy. Shaking his head, he said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I want to know exactly what happened there. I want every shred of data that can be pulled out of that factory. I want every house within five miles of that factory searched and every computer confiscated." Mike was quiet for a moment and recalled the Federal Prosecutor that had been sent from Denver to provide them with legal advice. He hadn't seen the man since he had arrived in town. He said, "Talk to that Prosecutor from Denver that they sent us so that we aren't breaking the law. It is time that he earns his keep." ------- Sanjay greeted Mike and Kim Sung at the front door. He led Mike into the living room while Kim Sung had made her way into the kitchen. Without asking, Sanjay prepared two fingers of Scotch and, after dropping three ice cubes into it, handed him the glass. The pair of men settled into chairs and raised their glasses in a toast. After taking a sip of the Scotch, Sanjay said, "It will be a long time before we have good weather for fishing. It is only the end of October and I am already tired of this cold and wet weather." "I know what you mean," Mike said. "Do you think that you will be able to resume fishing with your hand as it is?" Sanjay asked. "Two of my fingers do not work, but I believe that I can still reel them in with the fingers that do work," Mike answered looking at his hand. The physical therapy had allowed the fingers to move, but not under the control of his muscles. Most of the time, they were curled uselessly against the palm of his hand. "That is good," Sanjay said looking forward to long hours spent fishing and talking. The sounds of activity from the kitchen made a soothing background noise. Listening to it, Mike said, "It sounds like they are cooking up a storm." "Ah, we have Thai food tonight. Teva's mother is visiting. She is staying here for six months," Sanjay said. "Six months?" Mike asked wondering how Sanjay would manage to live with his mother-in-law for that amount of time. "She will be here for the last month of Teva's pregnancy and to take care of the baby for five months. It is a great help," Sanjay said. "I imagine that it is," Mike said. The reminder that Teva was pregnant brought down his mood a little. Sanjay, seeing the sad downturn of Mike's eyes, decided that it was time to change the subject. He said, "I think I am glad that you and I didn't go to Illinois to check on that factory." "That was a disaster," Mike said with a snort of disgust. The press was having a field day with the events that had occurred there. Members of the press were angry that an armed military helicopter had been employed to put down the fight rather than leaving it to law enforcement. The big problem was that a few of the individuals killed were American citizens and the idea that the National Guard should indiscriminately kill citizens was an outrage. Laughing, Sanjay said, "You can describe it better than that." "Okay, it was a cluster fuck," Mike said. In the kitchen, three women were involved in a very intense discussion. The discussion concerned making Mike a happy man. Teva said, "He has saved Sanjay's life twice. We are doubly indebted to him." Teva's mother, Noi, asked, "What does he want?" "I do not know. He does not talk to me," Kim Sung answered looking down at the floor. Mike was always polite, but kept to himself around the house. He didn't engage in idle conversation. Shaking her head, she said, "He does not ask me to do things." "Why not?" Noi asked looking at the woman. "I am old woman," Kim Sung said believing that was the problem. It was not without good reason for her to believe that. Twenty-two years earlier she had been thrown out of a Bangkok whorehouse because she was too old to attract customers. Noi had found her crying in the street after being beaten nearly to death by a client. For some reason that Kim never understood, Noi had taken pity on her and brought her home. After nursing Kim back to health, Noi had established her in the position of housekeeper for her father. The old man had been nice. When he had passed away, Kim had expected to be turned out to the street. Instead, Noi had continued to pay her and had set her up in a small house where she could live undisturbed. She owed the family so much. Ashamed, Kim said, "I have offered, but he turns me down. I am too ugly." "That is not the problem. He still misses his wife," Teva said, "He is the kind of man whose heart takes a long time to heal." Nodding her head in agreement with her daughter, Noi said, "Create a special place for him to relax and heal." "Yes, ma'am," Kim Sung answered. She looked up at Teva and said, "The house is not very big. It will have to be in the garden." Teva smiled and said, "That will be perfect." "I will take care of that. Excuse me, I must make some calls," Noi said leaving the room. ------- Chapter 21 Mike sat well down the highly polished table from the President trying to figure out some way to keep from exploding in response to what the man was saying. For the past ten minutes, the President had been ranting and raving about the violation of due process that had occurred when individuals, under the guidance of Homeland Security, had searched houses and removed evidence without first getting search warrants. He ended his rant with the question, "What do you have to say for yourself?" Mike said, "You don't need a search warrant to search an active crime scene." "You need a search warrant to enter a home," the President said hitting the table with his fist. "You don't when some asshole was shooting at police from the window of the house," Mike replied. "You can't say for certain which of those houses those shots were coming from. You can't go in and search every house. I am a lawyer and I know that you need a warrant to search a house," the President said. Mike was tempted to tell him that he must have been a pretty piss poor one if he really believed that. Instead, he asked, "Contract law?" "Yes." "This is criminal law," Mike said. He sat back in his chair and said, "That entire neighborhood was a war zone in which people were firing upon the police. From what we observed, bullets were originating from every house. That makes each house a crime scene. The police have a right to enter a crime scene. They have a right to pick up any evidence left behind." "You idiot! They searched every house in the neighborhood," the President shouted. His face had turned red. "It is called probable cause," Mike said. He had spent three hours with the Attorney General making sure of that point of law. They hadn't been able to find the attorney from Denver. "This is a nation in which we protect civil liberties. You violated the civil rights of everyone in that neighborhood," the President said angrily jabbing the table to punctuate each syllable. Mike leaned forward in his seat and said, "Then you should be yelling at the Attorney General." "Why?" "Because he drafted the policy for the searches," Mike answered. "I'll be getting to him next," the President said. Hoping to get the meeting back on topic, Mike said, "Just in case you're interested, we recovered the names of three thousand terrorists as a result of that search. We expect to find more names before we finish examining all of the computers that were found. On the basis of what we've seen so far, we've..." "You can't use that evidence against them," the President said interrupting Mike. "I respectfully disagree with you on that," Mike said at the end of his patience. He opened his briefcase and stuffed his papers into it. "Not while I'm President!" Mike opened his appointment book and looked at the calendar. It was early November. Smiling, he said, "I'm willing to wait for the next President to be sworn into office. That should be in a couple of months." "Get out of here!" "Certainly, Mr. President," Mike said snapping his briefcase shut. ------- Bob's lawn looked like he had been raking leaves all day. There wasn't a leaf left in the front yard, but Bob was out there with the rake making the motions as if the lawn was covered in leaves. Mike got out of his car and watched Bob for a minute. Shaking his head, he walked over and said, "I think you got all of the leaves a long time ago." Feeling a little ridiculous, Bob said, "It's all that I could think of doing." "You're that bored?" Mike asked with a small laugh. "No. There's been a black car circling the block every ten minutes. They've been doing that for almost an hour. I thought you should know," Bob said looking around as if expecting someone to jump out at them any moment. "Do you mean that black car coming this way right now?" Mike asked slipping his hand under his jacket. "That's the car," Bob said. "I'll be right back," Mike said putting a little distance between him and Bob. He'd hate for something to happen to Bob because someone was after him. When Bob moved to put a little more distance between them, Mike figured that Bob had picked up on the general idea. He drifted towards his car so that he would have some protection if things got bad. The black car pulled into Mike's driveway and came to a stop. Mike released the catch on his holster without taking his eyes off the car. The dark windows didn't allow him to see who was in the back, but the pair of men seated in the front looked threatening enough. Seeing Mike's defensive stance, the passenger reached over the dash board and held up something flat. It opened and Mike could see the badge. He eased his hand out from under his jacket and gestured for them to get out. The man behind the wheel of the car got out and held up his badge. In a voice that carried as far as Bob, he said, "We're Secret Service." Mike shook his head in disgust and said, "Don't tell me that asshole sent you to fire me." The backdoor of the car opened and laughter emerged from it. Anthony Archer stepped out of the car and stopped laughing long enough to say, "Is that any way to talk about my predecessor?" From next door, Bob shouted, "That's Anthony Archer! He's taking aim on terrorism!" Mike grinned and asked, "Aren't you getting ahead of yourself?" "You're right. We must do these things in the proper order. Let me say hello to the rather excited fellow over there. After I'm done with that, we need to talk," Anthony Archer said. "While you are doing that, allow me to tell my housekeeper that we have company," Mike said. When Anthony nodded his head, Mike went over to the door and opened it. Sticking his head in, he saw that Kim Sung was busy taking down the massage table. Although it was unnecessary, he said, "We have company." "Give me five minutes," Kim said scurrying around frantically. ------- Tony sat down in the rocking chair with a contented sigh. After setting the chair in motion, he said, "One of the great tragedies of modern times has been the loss of rocking chairs. I've traveled this country from one end to the other on the campaign trail and I almost never see a rocking chair. I never get to sit in a rocking chair except when I'm at home." "You came all this way to talk about rocking chairs?" Mike asked with a grin. "No. I came to talk about that mess in Illinois," Tony answered. He held up a hand to stave off any objections and said, "Before you ask, let me tell you that I was briefed that your team was the one that identified the factory." "Okay," Mike said sitting back in his chair. He knew that his involvement wasn't exactly a secret. Tony said, "I need a straight answer and you're the only one who I trust to tell me the truth." "Ask your question and I'll answer to the limits of my ability," Mike said. Tony was silent for a long time before he said, "I thought the terrorist situation was getting pretty bad, but I didn't expect to have a major battle like that on American soil. Was that a one of a kind event or can we expect more battles like that in the future?" "I'll tell you what I was prepared to tell the President earlier today. What we saw in Illinois was a minor skirmish. We caught them by surprise. Despite that, they kicked some ass. Next time, they are going to expect the National Guard to show up and then we'll see a real battle," Mike said. Tony sagged down in the rocking chair feeling very tired. He said, "I was afraid that you were going to say that. When you said that you were prepared to tell the President that; am I safe in assuming that you didn't tell him?" "We got into a discussion about the searches that were performed by the police after they got control of the area. Before we had a chance to talk about anything else he had sent me out of the room," Mike answered. "Let me guess, he's hung up on the warrants," Tony said with a sigh. Mike nodded his head. Shaking his head in disgust, Tony said, "I can't believe that man is that stupid. Didn't he watch the surveillance satellite footage?" "I don't know," Mike said. "I'm going to need some position that I can take with the public regarding battles like that," Tony said. He was convinced that he was going to win the election and was now looking at how to manage expectations. One of the worst things that could happen was for him to get elected and immediately fail to keep his campaign promises. Looking at the expression on Mike's face, he asked, "What do you suggest?" "That these situations are a result of an irregular army that has invaded America and is covertly occupying territory. The only proper response is to face them with the level of military force necessary to defeat them. There is no need to apologize for sending an army to deal with an invading army," Mike said. "Perfect," Tony said pleased to hear Mike echo the stance that he had been planning on taking. He sighed and said, "I hope that I live long enough to become President." "What's happened?" Mike asked. "It seems that someone doesn't want me to become President. There have been three assassination attempts on my life in the past two weeks. All of them were by Muslims. The Secret Service managed to prevent them before there were any shots fired or bombs exploded. This information has been kept out of the press," Anthony Archer answered. "You should spend the rest of the campaign in the Midwest. There are a couple of places that you should avoid there, but the chances of one of the terrorists getting close enough to you without being observed should be pretty small," Mike said. "I can't do that. I've got to go into New York City, Los Angeles, and Miami," Tony said. Mike shook his head and said, "You are ahead in the polls by thirty-three points. You're going to lose California and New York no matter what. The Peace At Any Price crowds are thick as thieves there. The rest of the country is a little smarter than that." "You're forgetting that I won't be elected by popular vote. I have to win the vote in the Electoral College. Losing New York, Florida, and California is not an option. Even if I only lose each of those states by one vote, it will make my win look a lot weaker than it really is. I have to win at last two of them for the result to be accepted as significant," Tony said. "You've got Florida. That should be sufficient," Mike said. "I'm going after New York and to do that I need to win over the voters in New York City. The way I see it is -- spending New Years Eve in Times Square watching the ball drop is an American tradition. 2010 was a disaster; it was canceled last year and has been canceled for the upcoming New Years Eve. I need to make the point that at the end of my term, we will again be able to stand in Times Square and watch the ball drop as the clock reaches midnight," Tony said. Mike frowned and said, "Give your speech at Times Square at noon, but don't announce it before hand. You don't want anyone to know that you are going to be there; not even the mayor. If anyone knows, then the terrorists will know. Bring the Press with you, give your speech, and then leave. No matter how tempting it is, don't stay there for more than ten minutes." ------- Jim said, "They are about to go in." Mike sat down at his chair and turned his attention to the situation board. Three Predator Drones were circling over the factory and they were watching the feeds from them. He asked, "Has anyone shared their plans with us?" "Charlie and I were briefed on the plans. They are going to send in a dozen radio controlled police cars just in case it is a trap and they get blown up. That will allow them to test the waters without risking their people. Unofficially, I heard that they had converted the dozen oldest police cars in the entire state and they were afraid that half of them wouldn't run long enough to make it to the factory," Jim answered with a grin. "Then what?" Mike asked. Charlie said, "Well, they are prepared for a full scale war. They've got tanks, fighters, helicopters, and troops ready to engage the terrorists. All they need is for the terrorists to make the first move." Mike stared at the screen for a full minute while rubbing his lower lip with his index finger. The state of Washington was waiting to hear from him that it was safe to start the effort. Looking over at Charlie, he asked, "How many Muslims do they have in their National Guard?" Charlie looked around wondering why Mike expected him to know that. Confused, he asked, "Why are you asking that?" "Look at the situation board," Mike answered pointing to the screens at the front of the room. Charlie stared at the screen for almost two minutes before he realized what Mike meant. He slapped his forehead and shouted, "Shit!" Mike picked up the telephone and dialed the Governor. When the Governor answered, he said, "Governor, this is Mike Bowman of Homeland Security. I suggest that you call off the raid. We need to rethink our actions." "Why?" the Governor asked dreading what he was going to hear. "I'm watching the feeds from the Predator Drones. It looks to me like you're about to invade a ghost town. I would be real surprised if it wasn't mined," Mike answered looking at the situation board. There weren't any people around the factory. There weren't any cars in parking lots. There weren't any cars moving down the streets. Even the convenience store looked like it was closed. ------- Mike looked over at the old man who was standing beside Kim Sung in the center of his living room. Surprised to find an elderly man there, he said, "I assume that you are Kim's husband... boyfriend... friend..." "No," Kim said indignant at the suggestion. The man bowed to Mike and said, "I am the gardener." "Gardener?" Mike asked with a frown. It was the beginning of November and not the time to work in the garden. "Teva sent me. She wants you to be happy," the man said with a curt nod of his head. He had spent the afternoon sizing up the backyard trying to envision a tranquil garden. Frowning, Mike said, "There's no way you're giving me a massage." Kim Sung burst out laughing at the comment. The old man looked indignant and said, "I am a gardener; not a whore." This sparked a rather major exchange between the two elderly people. He didn't understand the language, but that wasn't necessary to know what they were saying to each other. He wondered where the old man was going to stay. Then he wondered how much it was going to cost him. Shaking his head, he waited for the argument to end. He said, "There goes my peace and tranquility." ------- Election night was rather anti-climatic. Anthony Archer won by a landslide. He even won the state of New York, something that really surprised the liberal press covering the election. Despite the attempts to bolster the President's campaign, the press had only helped Archer's victory. They had misjudged the mood of the American people. Anthony Archer was not the only victor that night that had campaigned on an anti-terror platform. The Senate had clearly shifted to a much more conservative orientation although it was not enough to make that body of august individuals conservative. The control over the House of Representatives had swung from the Democrats to Republicans. Mike figured that the cumulative IQ of the Senate and House of Representatives hadn't changed one little bit. Mike watched the commentators discuss the consequences of the election. The arguments were very passionate. The handful of conservative commentators mentioned that the results would help make America safe from terrorism. They talked about being able to hunt down the terrorists where they lived. The main problem was that they continued to dwell on the topic of a return to American values, namely, family, religion, and the elimination of all things perverse. The liberal commentators were bemoaning the fact that this election meant the end of civil liberties. The picture they painted was of storm troopers in the street pulling innocent men and women into detainment camps where they would be tortured. The anti-Islamic position of Anthony Archer was compared to the anti- Jewish beliefs of Hitler. They argued that America had just stepped on a slippery slope that would lead it away from the American principles that everyone valued. Mike listened to the debate divided in his thoughts. There had to a reasonable balance between the two extremes. Recent attempts to take the terrorists forced a military response. There was no way that police armed with service revolvers were going to be able to go against terrorists armed with automatic weapons, body armor, grenades, and explosives. Still, the idea of using soldiers to arrest people grated on his sense of right and wrong. The coverage of election results was interrupted by a news flash. Mike sat up fearing the worst while knowing that his fears were well justified. The images of burning embassies filled the screen. In one hour, it looked like twenty American embassies had been destroyed by terrorist acts. The majority of locations were not a great surprise since they included Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Indonesia, Iraq, Sudan, and Venezuela. There were a few surprise locations. These locations included Mexico, Canada, Germany, and Thailand. The Wolf News Channel carried a feed from one of the Middle Eastern news services. It hosted a live announcement by a very well known leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. The man, Mohammed bin Laden, was one of the many sons of Osama bin Laden. He had taken over leadership of al Qaeda after the death of his father to his kidney ailment. That he would appear live in a news studio somewhere in the Middle East meant that al Qaeda had gone main stream. With a sick feeling in his stomach, Mike listened to the translator as Mohammed bin Laden told of how the current election in America was an act of war against Islam. He called upon Muslims everywhere to rise up and strike down the Great Satan of the west. He declared that today was the rebirth of the Great Jihad against the western world. He demanded that Muslims in America rise up to throw off the evil that threatened all that was holy. From the messages scrolling across the bottom of the screen, it appeared that people were responding to that call to arms. Mike read reports of churches being burned to the ground in various locations around the country. It was a common tactic used by the terrorists to bolster support among Muslims. They would attack a religious site and then use the retaliation to attract supporters and justify further aggression. They had done it with great success in Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. He knew that within hours vigilantes would strike out at innocent Muslims thereby providing more material to be used to further justify Jihad against America. Mike wanted to throw his coffee cup through the television when the President came on television and basically told the American people that the riots demonstrated that he had been right. He asserted that placating the freedom fighters had been the only sane policy to stave off global war. He urged the President Elect to moderate his position. It was obvious by the comments after the speech that a vocal percentage of the country agreed with the President on the matter. Based on the results of the election, it was obvious that the vocal percentage was not a large percentage of the country. ------- The grim faced men seated around the conference table in room 10 of the Bethesda Hospital were not happy. The world had exploded in violence overnight. Although they all knew it was going to happen, their warnings had been squashed. Those in power had not wanted warnings of potential acts of violence against Americans further eroding their political ambitions. As a result, thousands of Americans had been killed in the violence the flared up at home and abroad. Jack Lancer said, "Despite all of the violence before today, I think that history will say that World War III began the moment the Coax News Network declared Anthony Archer the next President." "Although history will be wrong, I think you're right," Tim Collins said in agreement. "We are going to have to wait until January before a real response will occur. At least Archer has what looks like a workable plan for getting control of the situation," Larry said shifting around in his chair. Anthony Archer had announced his plan for regaining control of the country in his victory speech. It was a very ambitious three phase plan. The first phase was basically defensive. None of the actions actually required the approval of Congress since they were policy items under the various government agencies of the executive branch. He wanted to seal the borders of the country by canceling all entry visas. All individuals within the country who were not American citizens would be subject to immediate immigration status review. His goal was to get the terrorists out of the country so that life could return to normal. The second phase was offensive. Once the interior of the country was secure, he was going to take the war to the terrorists. There was going to be no place safe for them to hide. Mosque, embassy, or historical site would not be a safe harbor. Governments that protected terrorists would find that they could suffer the wrath of a very angry American Eagle. The third phase would be a return to a defensive status. There would be a review of all nation states and a sane foreign policy would be drafted. It wasn't going to be a gentle policy. Countries would be classified as friend or foe. Neutrality was not an option. To stand by and watch as America was getting attacked was not going to be forgiven. Jack said, "It looks like a reasonable strategy for winning this war, but there are some things that bother me." Relieved that he wasn't the only one who was bothered, Mike said, "The potential for abuse during the first phase is too great. I hate to say this, but giving that much power to government bureaucracies scares the hell out of me." Everyone around the table nodded their heads in agreement. Larry asked, "So what do we do about it?" Mike said, "We can't rely on the Supreme Court to halt abuses of power in a timely manner. By the time things make their way through the judicial system it could be too late. We can't rely upon Congress because they'll play political games while people are roasting." With an expression like he had bitten into a lemon, Jack said, "There's only one thing we can do. We have to implement a mechanism limiting the ability of our bureaucracies to trample on the rights of Americans. As much as I hate to suggest it, we'll have to ask the current President to put into place an oversight committee on the intelligence and law enforcement agencies through an executive order before he leaves office." Larry snorted in disgust and said, "Police to police the police." Ignoring Larry's comment, Tim said, "We'll have to assure that the committee serves as a governor that prevents the system from getting out of control. It will have to have the power to halt any real violation of the constitution. It can't have the power to write policy." "And who would sit on this oversight committee?" Mike asked thinking that the President would do the same kind of job that he did with the intelligence oversight committee that destroyed the intelligence gathering and analysis abilities of the entire country. "Well, the only candidates I can think of would be previous Presidents and one of us," Larry said thinking that it would provide enough tension within the committee that it wouldn't be able to act over trivial matters, but would respond to significant breaches. "Do you think it would really do any good?" Mike asked looking around the table with a skeptical expression on his face. "It might help in the short term," Jack said, "but if the war lasts too long then..." "God help us," Tim Collins said with a sad shake of his head. Larry started coughing. It sounded very bad and Mike wondered if Larry was going to be around for much longer. After Larry had taken a sip of water, Mike asked, "Are you okay?" "I'm fine," Larry answered. "You should go to a doctor and get that cough checked out," Mike said. He noticed Larry exchange a significant look with Jack. He wondered if he had just been selected to sit on that committee. He hoped not. ------- Chapter 22 Mike looked around at his surroundings overwhelmed by the idea that he was actually standing in the Oval Office of the White House. All of his previous trips had been to meetings held in other parts of the building. In awe at the thought of the history that had been made in that room, Mike said, "Wow." "What are you doing here?" the President asked looking up from the report he was reading and seeing Mike standing at the door. Mike held out a single sheet of paper typed on White House Stationary and said, "I've brought something for you to sign, Mr. President." The President looked at Mike for a minute and then, with a nasty smile on his face, said, "It must hurt like hell to call me Mr. President." Mike ignored the jab and approached the President's desk. On reaching it, he said, "This is a Presidential Executive Order in your name. We'd appreciate it if you would sign it." The President grabbed the sheet of paper out of Mike's hand and, without even looking at it, said, "You bastards in Homeland Security just can't wait to take over the country." "Read it," Mike said in a hard voice. He walked over to the window and looked out at the view. Mentally he reviewed the key elements of the document. Previous Presidents, the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, and a member of the Intelligence 100 were to sit on an oversight committee with full access to all on-going intelligence gathering activities involving American Citizens. They were charged with upholding the civil rights of American Citizens, but only American Citizens. They would have the power to halt any activity that crossed the line. He waited a few minutes for the President to finish reading it and turned to look at the man. The document was not what the President had been expecting to read. Stunned by the contents of the document, he looked up at Mike and asked, "What is this?" "It is an attempt to keep the Constitution of this country alive and well," Mike answered convinced that it would do no good. He was there on the very slim chance that it would help. Very few assignments given to Marines were pleasant and some were worse than others, but this was the hardest of Mike's career. "You are placing me on an oversight committee that is to prevent abuses of power within the intelligence community?" the President asked stunned by what he had read. "No. You will establish the oversight committee and will join it when the next President is sworn into office," Mike answered. The President picked up a pen and signed the document with a smile. The idea that he would oversee the intelligence community even after he left office was just too good to ignore. He handed the paper back to Mike and said, "It is signed." "Thank you, Mr. President," Mike said. He turned and left the office without waiting to be dismissed. The idea that he would be working with the man for the next few years made him sick to his stomach. No one had ever said that a Marine had to like the dirty jobs that came his way, only that they would get the job done or die trying. As he walked away, he muttered, "Semper Fi." ------- It was nearly ten at night and Mike was hard at work. He looked over the outputs of the face recognition program after having fed videos from several bus stations into it. One of those bus stations was located in Cleveland, Ohio. There were several dozen hits, but the certainty factors on most of them were pretty low. There was one exception. Grinning, he looked up and said, "I think I found one." There was no one else in the office other than the Marine Guards. They looked over at him and basically ignored him. Listening to Mike mutter to no one in particular wasn't an uncommon event after hours. Three nights a week he stayed late to hunt down individual terrorists. It seemed to them that he found one every other week. Mike brought up the video and watched the terrorist who had been identified by the program move around the bus station. The man had gotten onto a bus that would take him to Milwaukee. After pulling up information on the bus schedule, Mike saw that the man would be on the bus for another four hours. After a few keystrokes on the keyboard, a picture of the terrorist, along with a warning that the man was passing through their area, was sent to every police station between Cleveland and Milwaukee. Grinning, Mike picked up the phone and dialed the Milwaukee police station. ------- On a Friday evening, Mike returned home from work to discover Sun Yung waiting for him in the living room. This was the first time he had seen the man since the initial meeting. He could hear Kim muttering in the kitchen and wondered what had happened before his arrival. Feeling the onset of a headache, he asked, "What are you doing here?" "I have brought plans for your garden retreat," Sun answered. "Garden retreat?" "Yes," the gardener answered. He held out a stack of papers and said, "The top sheets are drawings of what I have planned and the bottom sheets explain how much the various options will cost." Mike looked at the first drawing. It showed an enclosed patio with glass walls. He figured that was going to cost a fortune. Inside the patio area was a water feature consisting of a small waterfall that fed a pool. He asked, "Is this supposed to be a spa or a fish pond?" "It is a small bathing pond for two," Sun answered with a nod of his head. He added, "It will be surrounded by ferns and other plants that like a little humidity. The idea is that it will be like you are surrounded by nature despite the small area used." Nodding his head, Mike looked at the plans again. He noticed that there privacy curtains that would allow him to block the view into the patio from the neighbors. He said, "It will be hot in the summer." "The glass walls slide open like the patio doors that you have now. In fact, there will be six pairs of sliding doors as the exterior of the patio," Sun said. "What if I want the bathing pond to hold four?" Mike asked finding that the idea was beginning to grow on him. Smiling and bowing, Sun answered, "That is the second drawing." "Oh," Mike said turning to the next drawing. It was basically the same design, but there was a three foot solid wall between the pairs of sliding doors along the side. He liked it better than the first one. "Plants will surround the entire room. There will be grow lights above so that the plants will have plenty of light. You will be able to dim the lights in order to set the appropriate mood. The room will be heated so that the plants will grow year round," Sun said after Mike had been studying the plans for several minutes. "I really like this one. How much is it?" Mike asked. "Close to twelve thousand dollars," Sun answered. "That's too much," Mike said shaking his head. The idea had really appealed to him. "Not the next one, but the one after that is the same design, but it is only seven thousand dollars," Sun said. Mike shuffled through the stack of papers until he reached the one Sun had mentioned. It looked like the one he liked. Without looking at the details, he asked, "What's different?" "I use much cheaper materials. The roof is simpler with wood and no shingles. The walls are plain and I only use glass along half of the walls. All is done much cheaper," Sun answered. He was pretty sure that was the one that Mike would choose. When he had shown the plans to Sanjay and Teva they had wanted him to build one for them. "I guess we'll do that one," Mike said. "Good." ------- It was eleven at night and Mike was at the office searching video feeds from around the country for another terrorist to nab. There was a lot of chatter about the upcoming holidays, but it looked like the terrorists were lying low for the moment. He was about to give up for the night when the telephone rang. He answered it wondering who would be calling him at the office that late at night. Picking up the handset he said, "Hello. You've reached Mike Bowman of Homeland Security." "Mike! This is Sanjay. Teva just gave birth to a baby girl," Sanjay said excited about the birth of another child. Although they had been hoping for a boy, he was just as pleased that it was a girl. The child was born a week late despite the fact that it was Teva's third child. Pleased to hear the news, Mike said, "Oh, that's great. Congratulations. I'm glad to hear that. What are you going to name her?" There was a slight pause and then Sanjay said, "We wanted to ask your permission to name her Karen." The request took Mike totally by surprise. Choking up, he said, "You have my permission. Karen would have been honored." "Thank you, Mike," Sanjay said hearing the man's voice crack when he said the name of his late wife. "How is Teva?" Mike asked remembering how Karen had been while giving birth. He wondered if Teva had cursed Sanjay for getting her pregnant. "She's doing fine. It was an easy birth," Sanjay answered. Teva had been in labor for only two hours. "That's good," Mike said looking down at his left hand. Knowing that Kim would want to see the Teva and the baby, Mike said, "I'm going to swing by the house and pick up Kim. We'll be up at the hospital in twenty minutes." "Great. I'll see you when you get here. I've got to call my parents now," Sanjay said. It was closer to thirty minutes before Mike and Kim arrived at the hospital. Kim ran off without waiting for Mike in order to find Teva. It took Mike another ten minutes before he found Sanjay standing at the window of the natal care unit looking at the baby. As Mike approached, he asked, "Which one is Karen?" "That one," Sanjay said, "The third one from the right." Mike smiled at the infant and said, "She's cute. You're lucky that she takes after her mother." ------- For all intents and purposes, Mike was alone in the Internet Café. The only other people there were the Marines guarding the place. It was Christmas Eve and everyone else was at home for the day. Mike was there by choice rather than obligation. There was no other place where he wanted to spend the day. Sitting around the house only reminded him of what he had lost while sitting in the office allowed him to get back at those who had stolen his wife and child from him. Mike watched the situation board as reports of terrorist actions slowly scrolled past. The majority of the messages were about suicide bombers killing themselves in crowded shopping malls. The malls that had implemented security procedures at the entrances were having the suicide bombers blow themselves up at the doors where crowds of people were waiting to clear security. Those that hadn't taken steps to keep the mall safe had bombers blowing themselves up in the crowded lines. It was a no-win situation for the good guys. It was still early in the day and the death toll was climbing. He figured that at night the messages would be about church burnings. While Christians prayed to God at the midnight masses, Satan's minions would be throwing Molotov Cocktails into the churches. He hoped that local police departments were smart enough to station men at all of the churches with orders to shoot to kill if anyone tried to burn down the church. Thoughts about deaths at the shopping malls served to remind him why he was alone that day. He tried to remember what he had done the previous Christmas, but it was a complete blank. He couldn't even remember what he had done over the previous Thanksgiving. Feeling depressed, he said, "Merry Fucking Christmas." The telephone rang and he reached over to answer it. Holding the handset to his ear, he said, "Hello. You've reached Mike Bowman." "What are you doing there?" Hearing his father-in-law's voice, Mike cringed. He had ignored the invitation to visit Karen's parents Christmas Eve. He had forgotten that his parents had invited him to come over on Christmas Day. Mike answered, "I'm watching the situation board." "You are supposed to be here," Vincent said. "I'm not good company," Mike said wanting to duck out of spending the evening with Karen's parents. "Neither are we," Vincent said, "Get your ass over here before I have to order a couple of sailors to come get you." "Yes, Admiral," Mike said with a tired sigh. All he really wanted to do was to pretend that it was just another day. The words were barely out of his mouth when he heard the sound of the call being disconnected. One of the Marines looked in his direction and smiled. Shaking his head, he said, "Rank does have its privileges." "You can say that again," Mike said getting out of his chair. He wasn't looking forward to fighting the traffic. ------- "Mike, I'm worried about you," Vincent said as he handed the younger man a Scotch. "Why?" "You aren't living," Vincent said taking a chair so that he was facing Mike. Mike took a sip of his scotch and tried to shrug off the comment with a joke, "That's funny. The last time I looked I was still breathing." "You know what I mean. You go to work and then you go home. Unless someone twists your arm, you don't go anywhere or talk to anyone. You're living with that housekeeper and I bet you don't even talk to her," the Admiral said. "I talk to her," Mike said rather defensively. The Admiral nodded his head and said, "I bet you can't tell me the simplest things about her. Where was she born? When is her birthday? How old is she? What did she do before she started working for you? Was she ever married? Does she have any kids?" "I know she was born in Hong Kong," Mike answered. "I'm impressed that you knew that much. Did she tell you that?" Vincent asked. "I checked her passport to make sure that she was in the country legally. I didn't want to lose my clearance because I was hiding an illegal alien in my house," Mike said. His justification sounded weak even as he said it. "I bet that was a very interesting discussion," Vincent said sarcastically. "Not really," Mike answered staring blankly at the middle of the floor. He had asked to see her passport, she had handed it to him, and he had handed it back after looking at it. "So what do you talk about?" Vincent asked. Shrugging his shoulders, Mike answered, "We talk about stuff around the house. She tells me what she's made for dinner. I tell her if I need some laundry done." "Is that all?" Vince asked. "I guess we don't talk that much." Vincent snorted at the admission. Deciding to change the subject a little, he asked, "Have you started dating?" "No," Mike snapped surprising himself with quickly he had gotten angry. He took a sip of his Scotch and tried to calm down. "I didn't think so," Vincent said with a sigh. He thought quite highly of Mike, but he didn't like how the man was isolating himself from people. He said, "It has been more than a year since she died. In fact, it has been almost two years. You need to get on with your life." Sally entered the room carrying a glass of wine. She sat down and looked at the two men. Mike looked angry and Vincent looked sad. She had known what her husband wanted to discuss with Mike and it looked like it was going as badly as she had feared. She took a sip of her wine and said, "General Moore's daughter could use an escort to the New Years Eve Ball at the Watergate Hotel." Jaw clenched, Mike took a deep breath to keep from saying something that he would regret. In a measured voice, he said, "I wish her luck in finding one." Sally frowned at the obvious rejection. She said, "It has been almost two years. You are a young man. Karen wouldn't want you to give up like this." Taking another swallow of the scotch, Mike said, "I'm not ready. Let's drop the subject." "We're just worried about you," Vincent said. He had heard that Mike was spending his evenings at work hunting terrorists. It seemed like every week or two there would be a news report about some high level terrorist taken out as a result of a late night call from Homeland Security. Vincent was convinced that Mike was responsible. Wondering how much longer he had to stay there, Mike said, "I'm fine." "Dinner is ready," Sally said to fill the uncomfortable silence that had descended on the room. Mike left the house right after dinner convinced that he had met his social obligations despite the fact that his departure was rather abrupt and without warning. Vincent and Sally were left staring at his retreating back as he left the house. They looked over at the present for Mike that was nestled under the Christmas tree. Shaking his head, Vincent said, "That boy is in a world of hurt." "He really loved Karen," Sally said wiping the tears from her eyes. The next day, Mike arrived at his parents' house just before Christmas dinner was to be served. There was a repeat of the conversation about him getting a life, but his mother was a lot less circumspect in telling him to start dating again. Although they never exchanged any harsh words, the entire visit had been quite tense. He left shortly after Christmas dinner. It wasn't until he was on his way home that Mike realized that he hadn't bought any presents for anyone. He hadn't even thought about exchanging presents. Feeling like a total asshole, he pulled over to the side of the highway. As cars rushed past at seventy miles an hour, Mike rested his head on the steering wheel and cried. ------- Although Mike was a member of the Intelligence 100, that didn't mean he was a particularly high level person within the CIA branch of Homeland Security. In fact, he had taken over Dale Dawson's position. There were many levels of management above him. His boss, Chip Newel, was a nice guy who was concerned with results and only results. Since Mike's group was producing very valuable results, he preferred not to mess with a good thing. Mike's interactions with Chip were via conference calls in which he gave his weekly status reports. Thus it was a surprise when Mike was told to report to the temporary CIA auxiliary headquarters for a meeting with his boss. Mike pulled into the parking lot of the converted grocery store. This had been the temporary headquarters after the attack on the old CIA building, but upper management had moved to another and better location. It had become the home for middle management. It hurt to think about how the CIA had fallen to the point where the majority of management was housed in such a poor facility. The building still looked like a grocery store. The glass windows had been painted black to keep prying eyes from looking inside. The doors still opened when someone approached them. The old rack for parking shopping carts was still in place. The most significant detail that suggested it was something other than a grocery store were the cement barricades that separated the parking area from the store and the Marines guarding the building. Mike went to the front door and watched as it swung open for him. He entered and presented his identification to the Marine at the door. The man had an M-16 slung over his shoulder. This was not a cursory inspection of his identification. The guard swept the card through a reader and looked at the screen comparing the person with the image retrieved from a database. Mike had to have his fingerprint read by an optical scanner. After a couple of questions to further verify his identity, the Marine said, "You're on the list of expected visitors. If you'll wait in the next room, someone will come to get you." The guard pressed a button and there was a click as the magnetic lock released the door into the building. The door was a lot heavier than it looked. Mike stepped into the room and found that it was a small sitting area with three Marines stationed there. They watched the live video of the entrance. Each of them was carrying an M-16. Mike took a seat to wait for someone to get him. There weren't any magazines to read so he was left just looking at the four walls, the live video of a door that hadn't opened in ten minutes, and the three Marines. Ten minutes, fifteen minutes, twenty minutes passed without anything happening. Finally after thirty minutes had passed, Chip entered the room and said, "Sorry about the wait, Mike." "No problem," Mike replied. He followed Chip through the door. Inside was a huge room that was a maze of cubicles. Mike followed Chip through the maze thinking that he would never find his way out. Chip led him into a conference room. Once there Chip pointed to a chair and said, "Have a seat." "Sure, what's up?" Mike asked. Taking a seat, Chip looked over at Mike and said, "Last week we had two agents lose it. They killed eighteen judges, six reporters, and blew up an office occupied by the ACLU. This week, we had another analyst who took out another dozen lawyers from the ACLU. The same kind of thing has been happening with people who work in the other agencies under Homeland Security." "Why didn't I hear about that on the news?" Mike asked. He wasn't exactly surprised by the targets having heard too many jokes and comments about that subject from others in Homeland Security. It was rather frightening to think that so many of his colleagues were losing control like that. In a weird way, he was surprised that the President was still alive. Chip said, "There has been so much killing lately that a judge and lawyer just doesn't make the kind of exciting hardcopy that it used to." "Okay," Mike said. He wondered why he had been brought there to discuss this matter. Keeping track of what other members of Homeland Security was well outside his area of concern. Wondering if one of the people who worked for him had been involved, he asked, "So why are you telling me this?" Chip slid an envelope across the table to Mike and said, "It was decided by the folks upstairs that all employees are to have twice a week sessions with psychologists. Every month the psychologist is to report a go/no go verdict on the employee's fitness to work. If the psychologist is particularly worried, they can issue a no go verdict at any time. If it is a no go, then the employee will be excused until the psychologist reports that the person is fit to work. Anyone out for more than three months will go on disability." "You're kidding?" Mike said eyeing the envelope. He could imagine how the people working for him would react to that little piece of news. He was not looking forward to telling them. "No, I'm not. The pressure on our people is staggering. The suicide rate among analysts is at an all time high. There's nothing worse than identifying that a situation is about to erupt and have your assessments discounted by political types. Hearing that another hundred people you could have saved have died is brutal on the psyche. Field agents are working under a microscope. They're cracking up left and right. We've lost too many talented people to risk losing more," Chip said. It was going to take a decade for the agency to recover from the loss of manpower over the past four years. Mike picked up the envelope and asked, "What's in this?" "That contains the names of the psychologists that have been assigned to your people," Chip answered. Shaking his head, Mike said, "My people are not going to be too happy about this. Not only do they have to work forty hours a week, they get to lose two evenings as well." "The psychologists are all within two miles of your location. This visit is part of their jobs and they will do it during normal working hours," Chip said. "That's a little better, but I don't look forward to telling them that the CIA thinks they are about to crack up," Mike said. "You're taking it well," Chip said with a weak smile. "What?" Mike asked surprised by the statement. "I said that every employee will visit a psychologist. That includes me and you," Chip said gesturing towards himself and then at Mike. Mike sat back in his chair and stared at Chip. Protesting, he said, "Oh come on. They can't be serious." "Everyone," Chip said in a much firmer voice. ------- Chapter 23 The invitation to attend the swearing in ceremony had been hand delivered by a Secret Service agent at the office. Mike had opened it and read that he had a reserved seat in the back row. He tossed the invitation on his desk and promptly forgot about it. He would have missed the ceremony except that Cathy had watched him open the invitation. When he arrived at work the morning of the ceremony, she asked him what he was doing there. The trip to the White House had taken almost two hours longer than usual. Listening to the radio, he heard report after report of terrorist actions all around the capitol area. Several embassies had been bombed, a mall had been attacked, a drive-by sniper was shooting people, and bombs had been discovered on several of the bridges. The upshot of his forgetfulness and the traffic delays was that he found that he was approaching the security gate a whole three minutes before the ceremony was scheduled to begin. Although Mike had expected the security around the White House to be tight, all of the events around the area had drained resources away from it. Capitol Police had been diverted to take care of real emergencies. The majority of security was being provided by young soldiers who were mostly inexperienced in this kind of activity. The problem was that they were a show of force rather than security. Mike had just gotten into line to enter the grounds of the White House when there was the sound of distant gunfire. He turned to see the military presence move away from the White House to take up positions a little closer to the action. The suited security types had moved inside the grounds of the White House and closed the gate leaving a handful of privates guarding it. Mike looked around and saw that he was standing in a security vacuum. The thought that things didn't look good crossed his mind at the same time that a lot of excited shouting erupted behind him. He turned and saw people running away from the Old Executive Office Building. They were shouting that there was a bomb on the steps. Mike looked at the gate and then in the direction of the Old Executive Office Building. He took off in a slow jog in the direction of the building. He figured that if someone from the Bomb Squad didn't show up soon enough, that his education in electrical engineering would come in handy. There was a white faced security guard standing on the steps watching a backpack. Mike went up to him and asked, "What's the problem?" "There's a bomb and the timer says that it is going to explode in three minutes," the security guard answered. "Where's the bomb squad?" Mike asked wondering how it was that the only security person at the building was a rental cop. He wondered where the Secret Service was and then realized they were probably busy taking care of the President Elect. A couple of soldiers had followed him, but they just looked scared. "They are five minutes away," the man answered. He was seriously considering running away. Keeping a job that paid ten dollars an hour was not worth getting blown up. "Damn," Mike said. He leaned over and looked inside the backpack. The timer was down to about two and a half minutes. He asked, "Do you have a pocket knife?" "Are you kidding? Of course not," the security guard answered. With so many security checkpoints almost no one carried pocket knives any more. Mike looked around and asked, "Does anyone else here know how to dismantle a bomb?" Seeing that there was no one else around with a clue what to do, Mike knelt down and examined the bomb. He thought he recognized the design. He tapped the center of the cylindrical casing and found that it was hollow confirming his suspicions. With a sick feeling in his stomach, he realized that this wasn't just a little bomb intended to go boom. This was a big bomb that would produce a mushroom cloud. It might be a small mushroom cloud, but it would be large enough to basically take out a city block or two. An amazing sense of calm settled over him. In a soft voice, he said, "What we have here is a suitcase atomic bomb." "Oh shit," the security guard said a fraction of a second before he took off running. He didn't know if he was going to get far enough away by running, but he sure was going to try. Deciding that Mike was the only one who even had a clue as to what to do, the soldiers backed away. Mike folded back the edges of the backpack and examined the bomb a little more carefully. It looked like it was a gun type atomic bomb with two masses of Uranium in a tube separated by a small distance. Explosives at one end of the tube would detonate and force the masses of Uranium together with sufficient force to achieve critical mass. He said, "Yep, an atomic bomb — the simple version." He looked up to see that the soldiers had backed away even further. Shaking his head, he bent down to examine the bomb to see if he could figure out how it was assembled. It clearly hadn't been built to military specifications. There was a rat's nest of wires. It took him a couple of seconds to realize that most of the wires were just there to confuse the issue. He traced out the wire connecting the timer to the detonator. Mike looked around and shouted, "Does anyone have anything that can cut a wire?" When no one answered, he knew that he was going to have to brute force the matter. Not seeing another wire connected to the detonator, he said, "If I had something to cut this wire with, we'd be safe. Oh well, nothing ventured, nothing gained." Mike reached in and grabbed the wire. He pulled it out of the device. The timer continued counting down. It was at forty seconds. Pleased that it hadn't exploded, he said, "It can't be that simple. There must be another detonator in here somewhere. Ah, there it is and there's the wire to it." With another yank, he pulled the wire from the second detonator. This wire was a lot more difficult to remove. He glanced at the timer and noticed that there were still twenty-eight seconds on it. He looked around trying to see if there were any other detonators, but he didn't spot one. He glanced at the timer and noticed that it was flashing zero. Smiling, he said, "I guess that worked." He sat down on the steps next a small distance from the backpack. He looked around and spotted the soldiers staring at him. In a somewhat distracted way, he noticed that they were a mixture of Army and Navy. It wasn't even a single service represented. There wasn't a single Sergeant stripe amongst the whole lot of them. It was at times like this that he wished he smoked. It just seemed like the perfect moment to light up a cigar. Instead, he looked up at the blue sky and considered how close he had come to oblivion. He tried to imagine what the expression would have been on his face when the bomb exploded if he had made it to the ceremony on time instead of showing up late. He was trying to decide if he would have looked bored by the speeches or surprised by the flash of light when his thoughts were interrupted by a man who asked, "Are you the security guard who called in a bomb?" "No. He ran off after I told him that it was an atomic bomb," Mike answered. The man was dressed in bulky padding with a plastic shield over his face. The expression on the man's face after hearing that it was an atomic bomb was priceless. Mike said, "Don't worry. I disarmed it." The man leaned over and looked in the backpack. He could see the numbers flashing zero. Each time the numbers flashed, his sphincter clenched. He was looking at a nightmare that fortunately hadn't ended with a bang. Barely able to talk, the man asked, "How?" "I pulled the wires off the detonators. There were two of them. One was hidden underneath," Mike answered. "Pulled?" "I didn't have anything with which to cut them," Mike answered. "Damn." Shaking his head, Mike said, "You know that whole countdown to one thing they always show in the movies?" "Yes." "It was disarmed at twenty-eight," Mike said getting up from the steps. More people were approaching them from where the bomb squad had parked their truck. He looked around and asked, "Where's the nearest restroom?" "I don't know. I'm sure there's one in the building there," the man answered gesturing to the door at the top of the stairs. "Good. I better find one soon. When my asshole relaxes, I'm going to shit a brick," Mike said heading towards the building. "What's your name?" "Mike Bowman." Mike was followed into the building by two members of the bomb squad and a couple of the soldiers. He did manage to find a restroom in time. That was the high point of his afternoon. ------- After four hours of being grilled by various men in dark suits concerning his role in disarming the bomb, Mike had finally returned to his home. Feeling like he had gone twenty rounds with a heavyweight boxer, all he wanted to do was to relax. Ten minutes after entering the house he was lying on the massage table. As Kim worked over his back, he groaned and said, "That feels so good." Kim Sung smiled and worked the muscles of his back some more. She'd never felt him so tense and could understand why he had asked her for a massage. Thinking about it, she realized that it was the first time he had ever requested one. Curious, she asked, "Did you have a bad day?" "I guess you could say that," Mike mumbled. He jumped when she pressed on a particularly tight muscle. "Just relax. I'll take care of it," Kim said. She had just finished saying that when the doorbell rang. Mike was off the table and at the door in a flash. The gun from the table by the door was in his hand as if by magic. He peered through the spy hole of the door and recognized the Secret Service Agent. He shouted, "Hold on a minute." Turning to Kim, he said, "We have company." It took her a minute to find a robe and give it to him. After putting it on, he opened the door and said, "Hello." "Hello, Dr. Bowman," the agent replied. He smiled and said, "The President was a little irritated when he looked out in the crowd and saw that you had ditched the ceremony." "Tell President Archer that I got distracted," Mike said with a shrug of his shoulders. "He knows." "Oh," Mike said. He gestured into the house and said, "Come in. I suppose you've got some questions for me." The agent laughed and said, "I've only got one question for you." After having been questioned for almost four solid hours, Mike was surprised to learn that they only had one more question for him. He asked, "What?" "What time can you come to the White House tomorrow to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom?" "What are they serving for lunch tomorrow?" Mike asked flippantly. The agent laughed at the question. Shaking his head, he said, "I have no idea, but I'll tell the President to expect you for lunch." "Good enough," Mike said. "You've got balls of brass," the agent said before returning to his car. Closing the door, Mike turned to Kim and shook his head. In a very soft voice, he said, "It has been a very bad day." ------- "Hello, Colonel," Mike said when his father entered the front room of his office at the Pentagon. "Mike! What are you doing here?" Robert Bowman asked surprised to see his son in the bowels of the Pentagon. "I was on my way home from the White House and decided to say hello," Mike answered. "How did you get in here?" Robert asked. Mike held up his ID card and said, "This opens doors in the most surprising places." "Sometimes I forget that," Robert said with a chuckle. He knew that it had taken a little more than that to get this deep in the building. He glanced at his aide and wondered what Mike had said to him to get him escorted to the office. He gestured towards the door to his private office and said, "Come in. I've got a little time to spare." "Thanks," Mike said following his father into his private office. "What were you doing at the White House?" Robert asked. Mike handed over a nice blue velvet covered case to his father and said, "The President gave me a medal." His father opened the lid and examined the contents. There was a slight smile on his face when he said, "I'm not sure that I recognize it, but it sure looks like the Presidential Medal of Freedom." "That's what it is," Mike said. It pleased Robert that Mike stopped by to share the news, but he was a little disappointed that he hadn't been invited. He asked, "Why didn't you let me know? Your mother and I would have loved to attend the ceremony." "I didn't know that I could invite anyone," Mike answered looking a little sheepish. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm afraid that my thinking has been a little muddled lately. I do okay at work, but when it comes to social issues I'm totally out of it." "You used to rely upon Karen for that," Robert said softly. He knew that Mike had relied on Karen for arranging their entire social schedule. Nodding his head, Mike said, "I really miss her." "I know you do. She'd be proud of you for earning that medal," Robert said. He looked at his son and said, "I'm proud of you." "Thanks, Colonel," Mike said. "What did you do to earn it?" "I disarmed a bomb," Mike answered. Robert's brow wrinkled as he said, "It must have been one hell of a big bomb to earn that medal." "Bigger than a MOAB," Mike said looking his father in the eye. "I hope you're kidding," Robert said upon realizing what Mike had insinuated. There were only two kinds of bombs bigger than a MOAB and they both involved atomic energies. "Nope," Mike answered. He stared at his two twisted fingers for a second and then added, "I guess it wasn't that big of a deal. They told me at the award ceremony that the bomb probably would have failed to operate even without my interference." ------- "You talk like you are a little detached from reality," Lisa Goodman said looking at Mike over her reading glasses. She was an attractive woman, but presented herself in an austere manner. Her clothes were conservative although they showed off her legs well when she crossed them. "Detached from reality? I'm not sure that is the right description. I'm numb," Mike said looking at the psychologist. This was his fourth visit to her. "Numb?" she asked. "Life has been a little rough lately," Mike said. "In what way?" "My wife died over a year ago in the poisoned mall incident. I'll admit that I'm still in mourning over that. Of course I think that is understandable. You see, I really loved her. I was dealing with it pretty well until about two days ago," Mike answered. "What happened to change things?" "Two days ago I disarmed an atomic bomb. That's when I started feeling a little numb. As I pulled the wires, it was like nothing could touch me. I remember sitting there afterwards thinking about what would have happened if I had been at the swearing in ceremony instead of going to disarm the bomb. I kept wondering what the expression on my face would have been if the bomb had gone off," Mike said. He wondered if she was going to say that he couldn't return to work. Lisa looked at Mike wondering if he was making it up. Raising an eyebrow, she said, "Tell me about the bomb." "There's not too much to say about it," Mike said shrugging his shoulders. "When was the last time you had a vacation?" Lisa asked believing that he had actually disarmed an atomic bomb. If he was making it up, he'd go into all kinds of generalities about it without giving real details. The fact that he didn't want to talk about it suggested that he didn't want to remember it. "Not since I graduated college, two or three years ago," Mike answered. In point of fact, it was more than four years. "I can put in a recommendation that you shouldn't return to work for a couple of weeks or you can tell me that you were about to take a vacation," Lisa said looking at Mike to judge his reaction. "I was thinking about taking a vacation," Mike said. "That would be good," Lisa said. She made a notation on his chart and then looked up at him. She said, "Come see me when you get back and before you return to work." ------- Mike drove into Dodge City, Kansas two days later and pulled into the parking lot of a basic hotel. Entering the lobby, Mike noticed the rack of tourist brochures. The clerk behind the desk was a clean shaven white male. Mike smiled at him and said, "Hello. I have a reservation." "What's the name?" the young man asked looking down at the computer. "Mike Bowman," he answered feeling somewhat pleased that he could understand what the young man was saying. "Thank you," the young man said. He typed a bit and then said, "There it is. It'll just take me a second to get everything done here. I need a credit card, please." "Here you go," Mike said as he handed over his card. As the young man ran it through the machine, he asked, "Are you here on business or pleasure?" "I'm here to relax," Mike answered. Nodding the young man said, "We have a complimentary breakfast over there in the morning from six until ten. It is just a basic spread with pastries and cold cereals. Since you probably want to take your time in the morning, there's a place down the street that only does breakfast. The service is slow, but the food is good." "Thank you," Mike said. "You're welcome," the young man answered. Pointing over to the rack, he said, "There are some brochures over there that describe some of the places to see around here." "I noticed that on the way in," Mike said looking back at the rack. It was a large wooden rack with little folded brochures filling individual bins. He doubted he would visit any of the places. "Sorry, it's just that we haven't gotten too many tourists since things went crazy," the young man said. The only thing keeping the hotel open was the small number of businessmen who frequented the area. "I know. Tourism has dropped off significantly," Mike replied. He had been surprised at the cheap deals that were available around the country. "Nothing ever happens here," the young man said. Nodding his head, Mike said, "I know that. I came here because there hasn't been a single terrorist incident in this area." "Well, the Sheriff has asked that we inform him if anyone suspicious checks in. He watches foreigners pretty close. Everyone watches foreigners around here," the young man said. "It seems to work," Mike said feeling a little relieved to be in an area that applied a bit of common sense to the problem of terrorism. "Well, I hope that Anthony Archer can clean things up in the rest of the country. I'd hate to be living in New York City," the young man said shaking his head. He couldn't imagine living in an area where they had suicide bombers blowing themselves up every day. He said, "Oh, I need to see a photo ID." Mike showed him his ID and said, "No problem." "Ah, you're from Homeland Security. We've been getting quite a few of you guys coming here to rest," the young man said with a smile. ------- Chapter 24 Sitting in his hotel room, Mike watched the Wolf News Channel. President Archer had kept his campaign promise and closed the American border. No one who was not an American citizen was allowed to enter the country. All entry visas had been canceled. International airports had thousands of stranded passengers who couldn't gain entry into the country. It appeared that the airlines hadn't believed the notice not to accept passengers traveling to the United States who were not American citizens. Mike didn't understand why people even boarded the planes to come to the country knowing that they wouldn't be allowed to enter. Despite attempts to sue for entry, there was no law stating that a person had to be granted entry. People wanting into the country pointed to pictures of the Statue of Liberty shouting that it proclaimed to the world that they were welcome to enter. Their shouts fell on the kind of deaf ears that only a bureaucracy could produce. The reaction overseas was one of shock. Two of the most vocal countries were France and Germany. They felt that it was a violation of an international principle to stop honoring visas. It was particularly galling to the President of France that French citizens, who didn't need visas, weren't allowed into the country. He appeared to have been insulted by President Archer when he had called to protest. France was demanding an apology. Cartoons appeared overseas declaring Archer to be Bush's evil twin with Bush presented as the Devil. It was stupid, but it reflected the attitude of a certain sector of Europe towards America protecting itself. Of course, it wasn't that simple. European countries were facing their own problems with terrorists. Bombs were going off on subways, trains, and in stores. It seemed to Mike that everyone blamed America for their problems. The reaction in the Middle East depended upon who was telling the story. The common person on the streets of Middle Eastern countries believed that America was terrified of the Islamic Jihad. They reveled in their power to bring it to its knees. People flocked to join Jihad and help bring down the superpower. Angered by what he was seeing, Mike watched the broadcasts of crowds burning the American flag and stomping on it. The rulers of those same countries felt that America was abandoning its support of their regimes. They were doubly worried. The Jihadists were becoming increasingly more aggressive in replacing regimes that they viewed as being supported by America. The huge pools of oil that had been the basis for their wealth were starting to dry up. For years they had been lying about how much oil they had. The lies were starting to catch up to them. In an attempt to show that it wasn't an American puppet regime, Saudi Arabia threatened an oil embargo against America if it didn't honor the visas previously issued. The threat didn't work. The world was shocked when President Archer announced that trade agreements for oil had been signed with Russia. He also had Congress pass an emergency oil production bill that opened up offshore areas for drilling. Most of the areas had long been blocked as a result of lawsuits by ecologists. The first license in decades for the construction of a Nuclear Power Plant was granted. It was hard watching the news without having access to the intelligence data that gave a true picture of what was going on in the world, but the break was doing Mike some good. He had slept the first three days; waking only to get something to eat and take care of his bodily functions. On the fourth day, he left the hotel and walked to a park in town. Sitting on a bench, he watched his surroundings. Life there was so normal. People greeted each other and chatted on the street. They went into stores without fearing for their life. He enjoyed the atmosphere of an America that seemed to be disappearing. In what was a major departure from how he normally vacationed, the fifth day of his vacation was spent doing touristy kinds of things. He spent a nice afternoon wandering around the Boot Hill Museum. It was clearly a tourist attraction, but he liked it. The place was nearly deserted and he wasted hours talking to the folks that worked there. They weren't trying to get people through as fast as possible. On the sixth day of his stay, Mike went for another walk in the town. After wandering aimlessly for an hour, he found that he was again at the park and relaxed on a park bench. He was considering what to do about lunch when there was a lot of shouting in the streets. He stopped a woman who was rushing past and asked, "What's going on?" "They attacked the White House," the woman answered and then took off for home. Mike looked around and spotted an appliance store. He went in and joined the crowd watching the news. There had been a major attack on the White House. To the people gathered in that store, the White House was the symbol of government. It was an important symbol and the attempt to desecrate it angered them. It had been a massive attack. The terrorists had driven a stolen sanitation truck filled with explosives through the fence. Security barriers managed to stop it well away from the White House. Other than breaking glass, there was only a little damage to the building when the truck exploded. The bigger problem was that additional terrorists raced into the breach with guns. The gunfight ultimately involved over two hundred police, Secret Service, and Marines. The President's helicopter that had been parked on the lawn had been an early casualty of the attack. The reactions of the people in the store to the news as the story unfolded at the hands of a very speculative press were honest and heartfelt. There was outrage over the attack, anger at the attackers, and concern for their fellow citizens. They didn't try to hide their feelings behind facades of sophistication. Mike stood in the midst of them feeling like he belonged. This was heartland America where flying the flag was commonplace. A tear ran down his face. A woman tapped him on the arm and asked, "Are you okay?" "I'm fine. Just a little overwhelmed by the moment," Mike answered. "This is a good country. We shall win this war," the woman said with the calm assurance of someone with total confidence in the future. The others in the room nodded their heads in agreement. "I know," Mike said. Seeing the heartland of America had restored his faith that things would work out. He spent the rest of his vacation in a chair by the pool. ------- Cathy brought over a cup of coffee and put it on the corner of his workstation. Putting on her best and friendliest smile, she said, "You seem a lot more relaxed after your vacation." "I am," Mike said. She stood there a moment fidgeting while trying to decide what to say to him. Finally, she said, "I'm sorry that I used to think of you as Pervert John." "Huh?" Mike replied rather confused by her apology. "You know -- when you used to come here and any time I came to your workstation there was a dirty picture on your computer. I didn't know that you were really doing something pretty important," Cathy said knowing that she wasn't making much sense. Mike laughed and said, "Oh, you're talking about the old pornographic security feature. I couldn't blame you for thinking I was a pervert. The fact of the matter is that there were a few pictures that popped up that I did like. Maybe I am a pervert." Cathy put a hand on his shoulder and leaned over. She whispered in his ear, "There were a few that I liked too." "Thanks for the coffee," Mike said changing the topic to a safer subject. "I've got to go to the shrink now," Cathy said. There were times when she didn't understand what had happened to her in terms of her career. One day she's making minimum wage working in an Internet Café and the next day she's pulling a real salary from the CIA. It didn't seem that her job had changed that much. The biggest change was that she had a security clearance that had her checking under the bed for FBI agents. Mike winked and said, "So far we've managed to fool them. They don't realize that we're all paranoid." "Being paranoid is our job and we're good at our work," Cathy said playing her role in an exchange that was common when someone was leaving to see the shrink. "I wouldn't say that too loud, someone is liable to be listening," Mike said with a laugh. Cathy laughed and asked, "I'll make the lunch run after my appointment. What do you want?" "I'll have my usual Wednesday Roast Beef sandwich with the works," Mike answered. The deli up the street had a daily special that Mike usually ordered. Wednesday had roast beef sandwiches with Swiss cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and onions on a hard roll. "Okay," Cathy said. She went around the room and got everyone else's orders. Some of the analysts preferred to go out for lunch finding that they needed the break from what was often bad news. After Cathy left the office, Joe came over to Mike and said, "She likes you." "I like her too," Mike said absently while studying the screen full of data on his computer. "I mean she really likes you," Joe said stressing the word 'really.' Realizing what Joe meant, Mike looked up and said, "I'm a married man." Joe looked at the wedding ring that was on Mike's middle finger of his left hand. Shaking his head, he said, "You're not married any more. You're a widower." "It's too early," Mike replied. ------- The sweep of foreign scientists and engineers working on American projects with direct ties back to foreign governments was in full operation. Mike watched as the names of arrested individuals scrolled past on the status board. Looking over at him, Shirley Holbrook asked, "Why are you so happy?" Mike sat back and said, "For the past two decades I've been hearing about how foreign scientists have been essential to American progress. My experience has always been the opposite. They've fought progress tooth and nail. They've been keeping us back. I think that the next year we are going to see some progress like you wouldn't believe." "Really?" Shirley asked. "Yes. I've watched too many projects that were nearly at completion get canceled by managers who are foreigners. I've heard of too many projects that died long miserable deaths when sent overseas. Those kinds of projects have consumed a tremendous amount of our resources with nothing to show for it. I bet we've wasted well over a trillion dollars and half of our scientists and engineers," Mike said. "You're just xenophobic," Shirley said with a frown. Mike turned to his computer and typed a few commands. A minute later Shirley had an e-mail with links to a number of intelligence reports concerning the Chinese interference in high energy weapons development. She wasn't very happy by the time she had finished reading them. She looked up and said, "I can't believe they would actually do that. Isn't China supposed to be our friend?" "They did and they aren't," Mike said, "Just wait until you hear their reaction to the news that their scientists have all been arrested for espionage." "They're going to be angry if this report is accurate," Shirley said. Jim said, "Oh, it is accurate. I did a similar study on outsourcing. The more I dug into it, the more I realized that outsourcing was actually holding back projects and costing companies more money." "Can you give me an example?" Shirley asked. "I'll give you one of the more extreme examples that I ran into. It was a case where an Indian working on a project for an American company talked the company into outsourcing some of their work to a company in India. Even before the contract was let, he was feeding back all of their results to the team in India. The team here kept saying that they weren't making progress. It turned out that the guy was sabotaging the project. The team in India ended up selling the solution back to the company here. Not only did the company lose their initial investment, but they also lost their competitive edge when the Indians sold the solution to their competitors," Jim answered. Mike looked over at Jim and said, "I wasn't aware of that one." "There are so many cases where outsourcing led to the downfall of a company that it isn't even funny," Jim said. Outsourcing was one of the few topics that really lit a fire in him. He'd lost two jobs in the past because his projects had been outsourced to India. "Isn't that just another case of industrial espionage?" Shirley asked. Jim nodded his head and said, "That particular case was a result of industrial espionage. For the most part the majority of problems arose as a result of a difference in expertise between the local teams and the overseas teams. In a few cases it was the result of few greedy people at work. I don't think there was a concerted effort by India to hold back American progress although I will say that the government of India did enable it." Mike replied, "There is a significant difference between a concerted effort to hold back research and an accidental consequence of incompetence. That's a particularly important distinction to make when a foreign government is involved." Jim said, "That's true, but they both have the same effect. I can name forty companies that had been in business for over fifty years that were brought down because of outsourcing and importing foreign employees to save labor costs. In the 1960s their stocks sold for eighty dollars a share and now they sell for eighty cents a share." Shaking his head, Mike said, "I'd say that most of those companies failed because of incompetent management. They couldn't manage their employees and they couldn't manage the firms to which they outsourced their work." "Of course, but that doesn't mean that there weren't concerted efforts to bring some of them down by foreign powers. In the sixties and seventies, Bell Labs, Watson Labs, Xerox Parc, and GE Labs produced research results that won Nobel prizes. How many industrial labs in America are producing research results that are capable of winning a Nobel Prize today? I'll tell you. None of them are," Jim said. "You're saying that foreign governments are the reason why," Mike said not sure that he bought that argument. Jim nodded his head and answered, "Of course. They provided great incentives for those companies to outsource research to their countries." Charlie shook his head and said, "You're wrong on three counts. American corporate labs shifted from basic research to product oriented research. Many of the winners of Nobel Prizes in American Labs were foreign born. American biotech companies are doing research that can win Nobel Prizes." Shirley looked over at Mike and asked, "What do you think?" Mike was silent for a moment and then said, "I don't know what has happened to basic research in this country. All that I do know is that every name on that list represents an individual on the payroll of a foreign government who has been feeding back hard- earned results that were paid for by us. There are a whole lot names on that list and it makes me very happy that they are being arrested." ------- Mike was sound asleep on the massage table during one of Kim Sung's special massages. She watched him sleep with a sad frown. She didn't think it was right for a man his age to live so distant from everyone else around him. His entire social life revolved around three engagements a month. It was a rather pathetic schedule in which he visited his parents, his in-laws, and Sanjay. After finishing the massage, Kim slipped out of the house and went next door. Bob barely heard the knock it was so soft. When he opened the door, he was surprised to see her. He'd never had an occasion to talk with her. He said, "Hello, Kim." "Hello, Mr. Wilkins," Kim said giving him a slight bow. Stepping back, he asked, "Would you like to come in?" "Thank you, Mr. Wilkins. That would be very nice," Kim said. She entered the house and looked around. There was a very different feel to it than the house in which she lived. This house had the feel that there were people living in it. Much to her shame, Mike's house felt like a morgue. "What can I do for you?" Bob asked wondering what prompted the visit. "I would like to invite you and your family over for dinner on Friday," Kim said. At first Bob thought that the invitation was from Mike, but her wording had indicated that she was doing the inviting. Puzzled, he asked, "You are inviting us?" "Yes, Mr. Wilkins," Kim answered. "Oh, is this a surprise for Mike?" Kim thought about the question for a second and then answered, "Yes, I suppose it will be a surprise for Mike." All in all, the dinner party was a pleasant affair. Mike had been surprised to learn that he was entertaining the neighbors, but didn't react negatively. Kim prepared a five course meal, but didn't join them at the table. The food was excellent and everyone ate their fill. The conversation around the table avoided current events, focusing more on the status of the work being done in the garden. Mike had been given explicit instructions by the gardener not to look, but Bob didn't suffer from that restriction. Bob told Mike about all of the kinds of things that the gardener was having delivered to the house. From Kim's perspective, the dinner party wasn't entirely a success. Mike was a perfect host, but he didn't fully engage in the conversation. There were periods of quiet that bordered on uneasy. There was a distance between him and everyone else but it would have been hard to point to specific examples. Bob and Ellen had a good time, but left feeling worried about Mike. As they returned to the house, Bob asked, "How long has Karen been dead?" "Almost two years," she answered. "He isn't over her yet," Bob said. "I know. It's sad." ------- "How are you feeling today?" Lisa Goodman asked watching as Mike settled into the chair. There was a certain indefinable heaviness about the way he moved. Mike looked at his therapist and answered, "I'm fine." "Has anything particularly good happened in your life lately?" Mike scratched his jaw while thinking about it. After an uncomfortably long time had passed, he answered, "No." "That seems to be a stock answer for you. When was the last time that something good happened to you?" "I don't remember," Mike answered thinking back to the day when Robert had taken his first steps. That had been a good day. Lisa picked up a pad of paper and started writing on it. She ripped off the top sheet and handed it to him. When he took it from her, she said, "That is a prescription for an anti-depressant. I probably should have given it to you a long time ago, but I've been hoping that you'd snap out of it." "I'm not depressed," Mike said defensively. "If you're not depressed, what would you say you are?" "I'm in mourning," Mike answered looking away from her. There wasn't a morning in which he woke without missing the warmth of Karen's body next to his. There wasn't a night that he didn't fall asleep without missing holding her in his arms. "The pills are also good for that," Lisa said. ------- Pointing to the situation board, Mike said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, we've managed to identify several dozen major enclaves of Islamic fundamentalists as a result of over a year's worth of effort. The President, with the permission of the Governors of the various states, gave orders to our military to go into them with the intent of validating visas. At least, that is the excuse that is being used since it is expected that our people won't be given a chance to even ask for the visa. We are going to take them down one at a time over the next few months. The first of these raids is going to happen today. "Because it is our work that helped identify those enclaves, we're going to get live feeds from the Predator Drones. We also have control over three mini-drones. The mini-drones can not carry the armament of the Predators, so they are just simple observation platforms. You won't be able to make out enough details to identify people, but you will be able to watch what they are doing. "I want Jim, Charlie, and Jack at the controls. Every time we've gone after these bastards, the guys at the top escape. I want you three to identify the thugs that everyone is trying to protect. Follow them when they escape." Jim said, "I don't know how to operate a drone." "The mini-drones are designed for this purpose. They use advanced AI technology to control the flight. All you have to do is to click on a moving target and it will follow it. You're going to have to watch carefully just in case it loses the target or they change vehicles," Mike answered. "That's going to be tough," Jack said. "Why?" "They're going to head to one of those gas stations in their network. They're going to pick up cars there and split up on us. We won't know which one to follow," Jack answered. Mike smiled and said, "I happened to mention that in the planning meeting. Guess what?" "What?" "Those stations were shutdown this morning," Mike answered. Seeing that he had everyone's attention, he added, "If you update our network display, you'll notice an absence of quite a few yellow dots." Jim's fingers flew over his keyboard and the map showing the full network that the terrorists had built up appeared on the large monitor at the front of the room. There were huge chunks of it missing. Major metropolitan areas which had once been connected were now isolated by stretches of empty country-side. Jim pumped a fist in the air and shouted, "Fantastic!" "Take that screen down and put up the one that was there," Mike said after the commotion in the room died down. He waited for Jim to comply and then said, "The efforts are about to start. The controls for the mini-drones should appear on your computers any minute now. They will circle until you take over control of them." The engagement with the terrorists went exactly as planned. The troops moving into the area were attacked before they reached the enclave. A full scale battle quickly erupted. Mike watched the battlefield with a certain level of apprehension. Initially, it was obvious that the terrorists were outgunned. Then the tide of the battle started changing. The terrorists were actually taking out the APCs (armored personnel carriers) that had been brought into play. Terry Blackmore was watching Jack figure out how to operate the mini-drone. The interface allowed Jack to do more than just click on a target. He used the zoom to focus in on the action trying to locate the target. He had just zoomed in on an area of the town when Terry noticed something unusual. He said, "Jack, hold it right there!" Looking up, Jack asked, "What?" "What is that over in the corner of the picture?" Terry asked. Jack looked at it for a second and then turned pale. Snapping his fingers in the direction of Mike, he said, "Mike, you need to see this." "What is it?" Mike asked turning to look at Jack. Terry answered, "It's a rail gun. They've got rail guns." Mike flew across the room to look at the picture on Jack's computer. It didn't take more than a second to verify Terry's claim. Mike swore and then said, "That's how they are taking out the APCs." "What should I do?" Jack asked. "Continue with your original mission. Identify the leaders and track them," Mike answered. "What about the rail guns?" Terry asked. "I want you to get on the phone and let the commanders know what they are facing," Mike said watching as Jack zoomed out and panned around the town. Jim shouted, "I found them. Twenty guys escorted three men into a van. They took off with two cars in front and two cars in back." Mike looked over at Jim and said, "Follow the big shots." "I'm on it." The battle was quickly ended when the Air Force entered the scene and bombed the town into rubble. It was obvious that the terrorists had not expected to be attacked without restraint. The rules of engagement had changed. No longer was terrorism being treated like a crime, but as an act of war. Mike sat back in his chair with a small smile on his face. The smile disappeared when he thought about the rail guns. ------- Chapter 25 At the conclusion of Mike's briefing on the latest engagement with a major terrorist enclave, President Archer looked across his desk at Mike. He was pretty impressed with what Mike had told him. Over the past few weeks, several dozen minor enclaves of terrorists had been taken out. These were hundred acre compounds occupied by a couple hundred armed terrorists. The compounds, like the one in Islamberg New York, usually had major training facilities. Smiling, he said, "I'm pleased with the progress we've had in wiping out the terrorists based here in the United States." "I'm glad," Mike said thinking that they had a long way to go before it would really be safe. The Islamic Brotherhood had done a very good job in preparing the domestic battlefield. "I'm thinking about expanding our fight to overseas," President Archer said. "Not yet. We've still got too many terrorists running around inside the country," Mike said afraid that by turning attention overseas that they would end up never resolving the problem inside the country. "Maybe you're right. It is just that I'm receiving a lot of shit from our European friends. They want us to close our bases overseas because we keep getting attacked and their citizens get hurt. They won't step up to the problem and take care of the terrorists before they attack us," President Archer said. Shaking his head, he said, "I keep hearing that we are supposed to be putting their interests before what is necessary for our survival. I think that is stupid. What kind of idiot argues against what is in their best interest?" Mike shrugged his shoulders and answered, "Maybe they think that we should change our view of what is in our best interest." "I seriously doubt it," President Archer answered. Mike felt like the meeting was wandering off the subject. Taking advantage of that, he said, "There was something that I wanted to ask you." "What is it?" "The memorial wall inside the old CIA building is inaccessible. I'd appreciate it if you'd help get it moved out, decontaminated, and set up in some publicly accessible place. The folks who were killed as a result of the attack should be honored by having a star put on the wall. After all, they did die in defense of this country," Mike said. President Archer valued the contributions of the intelligence community and felt that it was a reasonable request. He hadn't realized that nothing had been done to honor the men and women who had fallen in the domestic war with terrorism. Irritated at his predecessor, he said, "Consider it done." "Thanks," Mike said. He knew it would be years before he'd ever see the results of this conversation, but he was keeping promise made at Dale Dawson's funeral. ------- Mike entered the conference room listening to Larry coughing. It really sounded bad. Shaking his head, he said, "You really need to get that cough checked out." Larry looked at Mike and then asked, "Didn't you ever wonder why we meet in a hospital?" "No," Mike answered. "I'm a patient here," Larry said. He coughed and said, "I've been here for over two years. I'm the subject of an experimental treatment for lung cancer involving a genetically engineered virus that attacks only cancer cells." "Oh, I didn't know," Mike said feeling stupid. Larry said, "I'm sorry that we didn't tell you. The doctor in charge of the program told me a couple of months ago that the treatment has stopped working. Although the doctors used all kinds of medical jargon to explain what happened, the upshot of it all is that my cancer cells have become immune to the virus." "I'm sorry to hear that," Mike said. Giving a weak grin, Larry said, "When I started the program they told me that I probably had only a few weeks left. Three quarters of one lung and half of the other had turned cancerous. It had actually spread to my bones. I've had two years of life that would have been denied to me." "Oh," Mike said feeling bad that he hadn't known that. Shaking his head, Larry said, "I've watched you ever since your wife died and I'm saddened by what I've seen. I've been stuck in this hospital dying of a terminal disease and yet I've had more of a life than you. I find that sad." "Don't say another word!" Mike said waving a hand. He didn't want to talk about his private life. Larry looked Mike in the eye and said, "I want you to listen to the words of a dying man. You are alive, but you aren't living. It is time for you to get your life together. The first thing you need to do is to get laid. I'm not talking about a hand job in some massage parlor. I'm talking balls to the wall fucking. Hire a woman if that is required, but get laid." Mike glared at Larry, but didn't say a word. The comment about hand jobs in a massage parlor struck a little too close to home. He also felt that sleeping with a woman would be cheating on Karen. Shaking his head, Larry said, "The second thing you need to do is start taking care of yourself. You've quit jogging. I can tell. You're getting fat and out of shape. I bet you can't do twenty pushups and you were a Marine. You better start jogging again. Join a gym and work out twice a week. I suggest Tuesdays and Thursdays." The comment about being out of shape blindsided Mike. He looked down at his stomach and realized that he had gained a little weight. He couldn't remember when he had last gone jogging. He sat back in his chair and, as if trying to convince himself, said, "It's not that bad." Larry snorted and said, "Once you get laid and can jog two miles without collapsing, then you can start taking out that little lady from your office. She's not going to wait around for you for much longer. You better take her to dinner and a movie." "She works for me!" Mike said. "No, she works for Joe," Larry said with a smile. "Wait a second. How do you know about her?" Mike asked looking at Larry suspiciously. Grinning, Larry answered, "I've been watching you." Mike shrugged and said, "The exercise is probably a good idea, but I'm not ready for the others." Larry started coughing. He pulled out a small package of tissues, removed one of the tissues, and then spit into it. His sputum was tinged with red. Staring at the red, he knew the end was coming soon. He folded the tissue and said, "Your family is about to lose patience with you. Your mom is worried sick about you. I don't blame them. Even the Admiral is getting tired of watching you drag around. How many women has Sally tried to fix you up with? Three or four? Hell, even Sanjay and his wife have been worried about you." Wanting to avoid further discussion, Mike glanced down at his watch. It was well after the time when the meeting normally started. Thinking he would change the subject, he asked, "Where are the others?" "They won't be coming. Tonight is just between you and me," Larry said with a sad smile. "Why?" "I'm going to die soon and someone will have to replace my position in the leadership of the Intelligence 100. We didn't want to have to replace me and you at the same time," Larry answered. "Replace me?" Mike asked getting worried. "Look, you've got a real good head for this game. You might not realize it, but your team has consistently delivered assessments that have been right on target. You tracked down the missing rail guns. In the process, your team discovered the terrorist supply lines. You identified entire towns that had been taken over by terrorists and used as training facilities. Your team put together a very clear picture of the terrorist infrastructure in this country and you weren't even charged with doing that," Larry said. He started coughing again. Mike waited for Larry to recover before he said, "I'm just in charge of one small team." "We've got a hundred teams like yours spread all over this area. They're working out of what used to be Internet Cafés just like you. Your team, Jack's team, and, believe it or not, Sanjay's team are the best we've got. Those three teams are the only ones that have not had a member commit suicide. The attrition rate among analysts has been horrible. We haven't had a new field agent in six months," Larry said. Mike had known about the suicides, the attrition rate, and the inability to get new people. He hadn't heard anything about how the other teams were performing. He asked, "Just how bad is it?" "You know that supermarket that you visited?" "Yes," Mike answered. "That is the entire middle management of the CIA. The upper management of the CIA is sharing a single floor of an office building in Greenbelt with the upper management of the NSA. That's it. We've got one thousand four hundred and twenty-six employees in the entire CIA," Larry said. "What about everyone who is working in the New CIA Headquarters Building?" Mike asked. "The majority of the people working in those buildings are employed by the NSA and FBI," Larry answered. "Why in the hell are we still working in Internet Cafes?" Mike asked. Larry snorted and said, "If there is one thing that we learned after that attack is that you don't put all of your eggs in one basket." "Jesus," Mike said. "That's right. Now you know why I'm so worried about you. You represent our best hope of success in this war against terror. You've been doing all right with the operational aspects of being in the Intelligence 100, but your mind hasn't been engaged in the bigger picture. If you don't get yourself together, Jack and the others are going to have to replace you," Larry said. "Oh," Mike said. Larry was silent for a minute and then said, "I would have liked to have known you better. I think we could have been friends. It is a shame that things worked out this way." "Yes, it is." ------- A few days after his meeting with Larry, Mike stood in the control room of a weapons testing area at Sandia Laboratories. The technician was busy preparing the equipment that would measure projectile velocities achieved using the captured rail gun. The chief scientist came over to Mike and said, "It is good to see you again. Your last visit created a bit of excitement around here." "It's good to be back," Mike said still feeling a bit stiff from his flight out. He had flown there on a military transport rather than a civilian airline on this trip. The civilian airlines were viewed as too dangerous. "They are about ready to test the new weapon. It is much cruder than the last one." Nodding his head, Mike said, "It doesn't look very powerful." "Those aluminum foil and Mylar capacitors can pack a bit of a punch," the scientist said while gesturing to the homemade capacitors. The terrorists had been using the power supply of an arc welder to charge the capacitors. "How did they manage to penetrate the armor on the APCs?" Mike asked. The scientist tossed a small projectile to Mike. Mike looked at it rather surprised by the light weight and thin construction of the projectile. Looking up, he asked, "What's this?" "That is what they were firing at the APCs. It works on the same principle that allows a piece of hay to penetrate through a telephone pole. I'm sure you've seen the demonstration using a straw and a potato. It cuts through a very small circular section of the armor and then pushes the resulting plug into the tank." "Nasty," Mike said looking it over a little more carefully. The technician entered the control room and said, "We're ready. I wouldn't be surprised if all we get is one shot with it." Mike watched as they fired one of the rounds from the rail gun through a piece of tank armor. It was impressive to watch, particularly since the rails blew apart. The technician reported, "Not a very good velocity. It was only twelve hundred meters per second." Shaking his head, the scientist said, "I'm impressed. That's simple angle iron they're using for rails. They can build a launcher for a hundred dollars. They could set up one power supply and fire twenty or thirty of those. Each one might be a single shot, but it is a lot cheaper than anything we have in our arsenal." Mike shook his head at the idea of what that plug would do to the inside of a tank or an APC. Not particularly happy with the image, he said, "That's all we need. The terrorists now have a cheap and effective tank killer." The scientist looked at Mike for a second and then said, "I don't know if you'd be interested in it, but a friend of mine has just finished building a new surveillance platform. I could arrange a little visit to his lab while you're here." "I'd be very interested," Mike said. ------- Mike entered what had once been an Internet Café and looked around the room. There were ten rather sullen looking analysts seated at computers typing on their keyboards. The Marine at what had once been the counter snapped to attention and said, "Dr. Mike Bowman is present." The ten analysts slowly turned to look at Mike. He ignored them and studied the situation board at the front of the room. Half of the screens were off and two of them were carrying news channels. It was obvious they were going through the motions of doing their job. Disgusted, he pulled a sheet of paper out of his pocket and handed it to one of the analysts. While the analyst was studying the paper, the rest of the room was watching him with disinterest. Mike said, "Put the applications on the situation status board as identified on that piece of paper." The analyst didn't even bother to acknowledge the request. He went to work and set up the situation status board as specified on the sheet of paper. It wasn't until he had finished and looked up at the front of the room that he showed any signs of interest. The other analysts in the room turned from watching Mike to looking at the screens. Mike walked to the front of the room and said, "What you are looking at is the identified distribution of Islamic terrorists across the country. The yellow dots are locations that are part of a distribution network that provides sanctuary for terrorists traveling across the country. If you were to visit one of those yellow dots, all you would see is a gas station run by a Muslim. "Those areas in green are places that have a significant concentration of Muslims. They have taken over entire towns. They have major neighborhoods inside large cities. They have minor holdings in the countryside. As you can see, there is a shit load of those bastards in this country. The previous President wanted them to come here. The current President wants them to leave." His comment provoked the first round of laughter that had been heard in that room in months. Mike smiled and continued, "You will notice that a few of the green areas have black crosses in them. Those black crosses represent what we know are training grounds for various specialties. I'm here to tell you that your job is to study those training areas." "How?" Mike smiled and gestured to the Marine at the door. The guard opened the door and admitted five college aged kids wearing blue jeans and tee shirts. Mike said, "I want you to meet the five newest members of the FBI Air Surveillance Team." "They don't look like FBI agents to me. Where did you get them?" Mike laughed and said, "I found them in the video arcade at Quantico. Their fathers are Marines, but they haven't decided if they are going to join the service or go to college." "Jesus, we're really scraping the bottom of the barrel now." Mike pointed to five empty workstations and said, "Show them what you can do." The clatter of keys filled the air as the kids went to work. Five of the screens at the front of the room were replaced with aerial views of five different towns. The view on one of the screens zoomed in on men running through a standard obstacle course. Another screen showed a mockup of a school with men entering it with guns. Another screen showed what appeared to be a mockup of an airplane with a group of men standing around. Mike said, "The images you are looking at are live feeds from some experimental drones that are flying above a couple of training camps." "Impressive." "Zoom in on the face of that fellow directing the obstacle course," Mike said. A second later the man's face filled the screen. Mike said, "That man is Mohammed Abdul. He was captured at LAX a couple of years ago and released by a judge." "Shit, I remember that fiasco," one of the analysts said in disgust. Mike said, "As you can see, we can get enough detail from the images to identify people. That's what we want you to do. We want to identify everyone going through those training camps. I hate to sound racist, but pay particular attention to Blacks. We believe that the Muslim Brotherhood is preparing a major campaign in which Black Muslims who belong to the terrorist organization Jamaat ul Fuqra will be used because they can blend into the background a little better than someone of Middle Eastern descent." "This is going to be a lot of work." Mike heard the comment, but didn't see who said it. He said, "I want all of you to get to know everyone in those camps. You should be able to tell me who is who. You should be able to tell me who is the best one there. You should be able to tell me what kind of missions they are preparing to undertake. If at all possible, I want you to know their names so that we can tattoo it on their asses after we've killed them." One of the kids looked up and asked, "Are you serious?" "I'm very serious. This is war and they are the enemy. I want them dead, but I'm going to make sure that they die at a time that is most inconvenient for them. Are there any other questions?" Mike asked. On leaving, Mike noticed that the faces on the people weren't as sullen as when he had arrived. It seemed that they were beginning to see that their work would have real consequences. ------- "You look funny with your face all red," Kim Sung said when Mike staggered into the house after his morning run. Still trying to catch his breath, Mike said, "Tomorrow you run with me." "No. I am old woman. When I want to go fast, I get a wheel chair and a hill," she replied with a laugh. Mike paced around the house for a minute recovering. He said, "I'll be home late tonight." "Why?" Kim asked hoping that Mike was going to say that he had a date. "I'm going to the gym after work," Mike answered. Larry had died earlier that week. At the funeral, Mike recalled the last discussion that he had with the man and decided that it was time to implement at least a portion of his advice. Nodding her head, Kim wasn't about to say anything that might make him change his mind. Going to a gym was a good idea. She said, "Your breakfast is ready." "Thank you," Mike said. He looked at the sliding doors to the backyard seeing that the curtain was still closed. Repeating a question that he asked every morning, he asked, "When I can see the patio?" "When Sun Yung finishes it," Kim Sung answered giving her standard answer. She swore that old man was the slowest worker she had ever met in her life. "He's been working on it forever," Mike said. It had actually been three months, but he wasn't exactly keeping track of the time. ------- Teva looked at Mike and said, "You are looking better. Have you lost some weight?" "Yes, I did. I've started exercising again," Mike answered. He had dropped close to four pounds since he had started jogging and going to the gym. Those were the easy pounds. The hard ones would come off around his stomach and that was going to take a lot of time. Teva was smart enough not to ask him when he was going to start dating again. Instead, she said, "Well, it looks to be doing you some good." "Thanks. I feel better," Mike said. He didn't know if it was the pills he was taking for depression or the exercise program, but he felt a lot happier. Sanjay came in the house and said, "Ah, you have made it here before me." "I'm overseeing a shop not too far from here," Mike said. He was now overseeing four Internet Café locations. All but the first one were doing aerial surveillance. His first shop was still trying to make sense out of the high energy weapons programs of the terrorists. "They gave me a third shop today. It is rather far from here," Sanjay said feeling exhausted from dealing with traffic. "How are things going for you?" Mike asked. Sanjay looked at Mike wondering if he wanted the truth. Finally, he answered, "Things are not so good for us." "People are treating you badly?" Mike asked afraid of what he was going to hear. America was becoming a very xenophobic country. Watching battles on American soil between foreigners and American troops had a tendency to cause people to look at those who were different from them with a lot of suspicion. He was sure that Sanjay understood why, but that wouldn't make it any easier to deal with the problem. "Yes. The people at work seem to respect me. The neighbors are friendly enough, but they watch everything I do. People at the stores keep a good distance from me," Sanjay answered. Teva looked at her husband knowing that it was worse for him than her. There were too many Muslims from India that had joined the Jihad. Most Americans couldn't tell the difference between a Pakistani and an Indian. There weren't too many Orientals that were participating in the battle. She said, "It will get better once the violence stops." "I know, but it hurts. I am an American, not a Jihadist. It is just that to many people I look like a Jihadist," Sanjay said with a sigh. Wanting to sound upbeat, Mike said, "I think Teva is right. It will get better when the violence drops off." "Don't worry about me," Sanjay said. Things weren't entirely bad. When he was stopped by the police, his Homeland Security badge changed their attitudes significantly. "Is there anything I can do?" Mike asked wondering what could be done to make their lives a little better. Shaking her head, Teva said, "We owe you too much already." Sanjay bobbled his head in agreement. He smiled and said, "You are a very good friend, Mike. That is all the help that I need from you. I can't wait to go fishing with you when the weather gets warmer." "I'm looking forward to that," Mike said with a genuine smile. He was afraid that his friendship wouldn't be enough to protect Sanjay from people who were angry at people of foreign birth. He said, "I've been here for ten whole minutes and I haven't seen Karen yet. Where is she?" "She's taking a nap," Teva answered with a smile. Every time that Mike came by the house, he made sure to spend some time with the baby. ------- Chapter 26 It was Wednesday evening and the four remaining members of the leadership of the Intelligence 100 were gathered at the Bethesda Hospital. Although the need to hold the meetings there had ended, they kept the meeting spot. They were talking about how to protect the handful of analysts of foreign origin that remained within the Intelligence Agencies. Although Mike's conversation with Sanjay had triggered his interest in the topic, the real reason it was brought to the table was that another analyst, Amid abd Al-Jabbar, had been killed by a man who had lost his family in a terrorist bombing. Amid's job had been to wade through e-mail intercepts to identify the ones that were actually coded messages to operatives. He had been very good at it and his death was a significant setback. Mike looked across the table at Jack and said, "We have to do something to protect them." "What can we do? We sure as hell can't assign them bodyguards," Jack said. "All of our analysts are located in one part of the country," Mike said. Tim looked at Mike and asked, "Are you suggesting that we spread out a little; move our agents to different locations around the country?" "Yes, I am," Mike answered. He had given the matter a lot of thought and knew that in a densely populated region of the country that Sanjay wasn't safe. Sanjay would be a stranger to just about everyone around him and there were too many people who wanted nothing more than to take out a terrorist. "How will that protect them?" Jack asked. "We send them and their families to small towns where they will be known by the locals," Mike answered. Tim looked at Mike surprised by the suggestion and then laughed. Shaking his head in amusement at Mike's audacity, he said, "I like the idea. They say that small towns look after their own. They'll get to know them and watch out for them." "Exactly," Mike answered. "It's not a bad idea. It could protect all of us," John said. Taking a deep breath, Jack said, "I'll pitch the idea to the President." "What is the next order of business?" Mike asked. Jack looked across the table at John and sighed. John said, "The last item on the agenda is to discuss disbanding the Intelligence 100. We've met the conditions of our charter and it is time to end it. The foreigners influencing our policies have been eliminated and the intelligence agencies are providing assessments that are no longer politically influenced." This day had been a long time in coming, but its arrival was bittersweet. Jack said, "I agree." Tim said, "I agree." "I guess it is unanimous," Mike said with a sigh. He wondered what he would do with his free Wednesdays and decided that he could spend them hunting down more terrorists. Tim said, "We should continue to meet monthly to monitor the situation. I'm still not pleased with our solution to prevent excesses on the part of the agencies." "I agree," Mike said. The first meeting of the oversight committee had been filled with arguments about every little item on the agenda. It had started before the meeting with the men disagreeing over the seating arrangements. Jack nodded his head and said, "I'll let the rest of the Intelligence 100 know that it is being retired." ------- Sanjay parked his car at the far end of the parking lot at the diner where he was supposed to meet Mike for lunch. Walking along, he was thinking about what a surprise it had been when Mike had called him and suggested that they meet. He was about halfway to the entrance of the diner when he heard, "Sanjay, get in the car." Looking around, it took Sanjay a moment to realize that it was Mike calling him from one of the parked cars. He went over and asked, "What's up Mike?" "Get in the car, Sanjay," Mike said watching the rearview mirror like a hawk. Hearing the tension in Mike's voice, Sanjay got into the car through the passenger side door. Once he had closed the door, he asked, "What's the matter?" "I was pulling into the parking lot when I spotted someone I thought I recognized getting out of a car across the street at the Chinese Buffet," Mike answered. Sanjay turned to look out the back window of the car. He said, "I don't see anyone. Who was it?" "I'd swear it was Chang," Mike answered. He patted his pistol to make sure that it was there. "Chang? What would Chang be doing here?" Sanjay asked wide eyed. The last person he expected to see in that area was Chang. "I don't know," Mike answered. His intellect told him that he was wrong, but his gut was telling him that he was right. He trusted his gut more than his intellect. He said, "I intend to wait here until he comes out and then follow him." "Good plan," Sanjay said. He reached into his coat and pulled out his gun. After checking it, he slipped it back into his holster. Mike's stomach growled and he said, "I hope I'm wrong. I was really looking forward to having lunch with you." "Same here," Sanjay said. The men waited in the car for twenty minutes before an Asian man left the buffet carrying a package. Mike asked, "Is that Chang?" "If it isn't, then it is his twin brother," Sanjay answered feeling his palms start to sweat. He could still hear Chang threatening to kill him. Mike started his car and put it into gear. Four minutes later he was following Chang's car down the street. The traffic was pretty bad and Mike nearly lost him several times. He swore and said, "We can carry a gun into work, but we can't take a cell phone." "I know. I would give anything for a cell phone right now," Sanjay said. He noticed Chang pull into a parking lot and said, "Drive past him. I know where we are." "Where?" Mike asked just in time to spot one of the converted Internet Cafes. "This is one of my locations," Sanjay said feeling a chill go down his spine. He stared at the parking lot where Chang was parked almost directly across the street from the office. Looking at Mike, he asked, "Do you think he is here to kill me?" "I'm not sure. He might be here to take out the whole place," Mike answered pulling into the parking lot of a tire company. With a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach, he said, "He might not be the only one here. What's happening in China?" "Things are not going well. The American market has dried up and they are having problems buying oil. A number of their research programs have run into significant problems," Sanjay answered. The problems in China ran deep. The experimental foray into capitalism was failing because of a drop in the demand for consumer products and high energy costs. He added, "The only market they have left is the weapons market and the Middle East is their primary customer. Although we initially thought that all of the missiles that were used to destroy the Israeli defenses came from Iran, we just discovered that they were of Chinese origin and had been shipped through Iran." "You might not be aware of this, but China was paid a hundred million dollars in oil to kill Donald and a couple of other CIA agents," Mike said. There was a rumor that it was a Chinese spy who had disabled the Israeli nukes, but Mike didn't have any confirmation of it. Sanjay was silent for a moment and then said, "Let's take that bastard down." "It looks like he's not alone. Let's warn our people that an attack is immanent," Mike said looking over at Sanjay. Sanjay followed Mike into the tire store. Mike didn't waste any time with niceties. Holding up his ID, he approached the counter saying, "Hang up that phone, right now." "Yes, sir," the poor kid at the counter said. "Sanjay, call your office and get out the word," Mike said putting up his badge and pulling out his pistol. While Sanjay called his office, Mike watched the parking lot where Chang was meeting with a group of men. Without looking at Sanjay, Mike called out, "Let them know there are about a dozen of them across the street. Pass the word to every site." Sanjay didn't bother to answer. He was busy providing the details to the Marine in charge of security. The kid at the counter was listening with wide-eyes and an open mouth. When Sanjay hung up the phone, he pulled out his ID and said, "Don't let anyone out of the store for the next thirty minutes." The kid nodded his head and ran into the garage to spread the word. It took two minutes for everyone who worked in the tire store to gather in front of the store window in the hope that they could see what was happening. Sanjay said, "Get away from the window. You don't want to get killed, do you?" Mike said, "It looks like they are about ready to make their move. It's a mixture of Muslim and Chinese." Sanjay looked over in the parking lot in time to watch a Muslim man get into a car. He said, "This looks like the attack on the White House. They will drive the car into the office and then the rest of them will attack the survivors." "I think you're right," Mike said. "We have to stop them," Sanjay said. His voice had suddenly gotten very hard and businesslike. Chang was going to kill the men who worked for him unless he could prevent it. "We aren't going to stop them from here," Mike said glancing over at Sanjay. He was pleased to see the determined look on Sanjay's face. "Let's get in the car. We'll ram the bastards," Sanjay said. It seemed like no time had passed before Mike and Sanjay were driving straight for the car headed towards the building. They managed to intercept the front of driver's side of the car at the gate leading into the parking lot of the Internet Café. The collision was spectacular. Mike had the accelerator pushed to the floor and didn't even dare try to slow down. The driver of the other car was taken completely by surprise. The air bags exploded to cushion them, but Mike and Sanjay were already trying to get out of the car before it stopped spinning. Gunfire erupted from both sides of the street with Mike and Sanjay in the middle. Mike crawled out of his side of the car feeling a little dizzy. Without even hesitating, he shot the driver of the other car. Sanjay made his way out of the car on Mike's side and opened fire on the group that had already started across the street. He spotted Chang and emptied his pistol at the man. The car they had struck exploded. The explosion blew Mike and Sanjay twenty feet away. Fortunately for them, their car was between them and the explosion. That was the last that they could remember of the event until waking up in a hospital hours later. ------- Wheelchairs are fun for about one minute and then they grow old. Mike, seated in his wheelchair, looked very agitated. He couldn't even move around on his own, but had to depend on someone to push him. There were bandages around his left leg where they had removed some shrapnel. Sanjay, seated in his wheelchair, was looking over at Mike taking in the fact that his left hand was once again in a bandage. He commented, "Your left hand seems to be in a bandage most of the time." "The bastards shot half of my middle finger off," Mike said in disgust. The finger had actually been severed by a piece of glass that had been launched in his direction when the car had exploded. It would have been one thing to take off a finger that was useless, but to lose a perfectly good finger was just too much. Attempting to sound very serious, Sanjay said, "That's what you get for waving it at them." The comment forced a laugh from Mike. There were times when Sanjay really surprised him. He said, "I guess so." "What happens now?" Sanjay asked. They had been wheeled into the conference room and told to wait there. Mike shrugged his shoulders; wincing in pain that the motion produced. He had dislocated his right shoulder when he had landed on the sidewalk. The doctors had dug a couple dozen pieces of shrapnel from various parts of his body, but most of the wounds were localized to the left side that had been facing the car that had exploded. He said, "I guess one of these days we'll get tired of staying here in the hospital. I'm half tempted to get up and walk out of here right now." Sanjay hadn't faired nearly as well as Mike. He had suffered a broken leg when he had landed on the curb and was now encased in a cast that went from hip to toe. His arms had taken quite a bit of shrapnel, but they had protected his face. He'd have quite a few scars, but his clothes would cover them. Tapping the cast, Sanjay laughed and said, "I'll only be doing that if Teva uses 'The Voice' on me." "Not the voice," Mike said chuckling. He could hear the quotation marks in Sanjay's comment. Sanjay thought back to the day of the attack. A lot of pain had passed between then and now. He felt that the pain was worth saving the lives of so many people. He said, "I guess we saved my guys." "That's what they said," Mike said. Two locations hadn't been so lucky and the attackers had managed to inflict significant damage. A couple of men entered the conference room and looked around the room with significant expressions on their faces. Neither Mike nor Sanjay recognized them, but Mike recognized the look. Leaning over to Sanjay, he said, "It looks like someone's bodyguards have arrived." "Yes, but I must wonder whose body they are guarding," Sanjay said glancing back over at Mike. The Director of the CIA, James Wentworth the Third, entered the room and headed over to Mike and Sanjay. He looked down at them and said, "Don't you two look like a mess." "I suppose," Mike answered. "We'll wait for your families and colleagues to get here to begin the ceremony. I wanted a chance to talk with you two before anyone else arrived," James said with a smile. The descriptions of the event taken from the people at the tire store were quite colorful. They made it sound like John Wayne and Clint Eastwood had strapped on their six shooters and gone out to take down the bad guys. "Okay," Sanjay said when Mike didn't say anything. "You two men did a great job. Just a rough estimate would say that your actions probably saved fifty to a hundred lives. They attacked over ten of our locations and only two suffered much damage. Your warning allowed the Marines to stop the attackers," James said. He had been fighting distributing the agents around the country. After this episode he was rethinking his position. "It was luck," Mike said shrugging his shoulders and grimacing at the pain the action brought. "It was because Mike is very observant," Sanjay said. He smiled over at Mike knowing that Mike would be irritated at having attention drawn to him. "Well, you saw something and acted on it. That's what is important," James said. He had read the files on the two men and had come to the conclusion that their word carried far more weight than explained by their position in the organization. Stories about a CIA inside the CIA called the Intelligence 100 were still heard around the water coolers. There were rumors that Mike was a member of it. He wondered if Sanjay knew anything about Mike's involvement. He wondered if Sanjay was a member. "We did what anyone would do in our position," Mike said. He gestured over to Sanjay and said, "It was his idea to ram their car." James shook his head at how the two men were giving each other credit for what had happened that day. He gestured to the men who had preceded him into the room. One of them stepped outside and then returned. He was followed by Teva holding the hands of her two daughters, her mother carrying Karen, Colonel Robert Bowman, Louise Bowman, Admiral Vincent Dougherty, Sally Dougherty, and four dozen of the men and women who worked with Mike and Sanjay. Mike waved to little Karen, but the baby was oblivious. The ceremony in which the Distinguished Intelligence Cross was bestowed on the pair of men was simple. James described the heroism displayed by the men during the event that lead up to the award. Teva was proud that Sanjay was considered a hero among his coworkers. Sanjay's face lit up when James described him as an American Hero. ------- Lisa asked, "What happened to your hand?" "A terrorist shot off part of my middle finger," Mike answered holding up the bandaged hand and looking at it with disgust. He was seated in the soft leather chair in Lisa's office undergoing the first counseling session since getting released from the hospital. "Do you have anything against your left hand?" Lisa asked. Mike laughed and answered, "Not really. Sometimes I think there is a universal conspiracy against me ever having even partial use of it." "So tell me about that day," Lisa said easing into the subject. Mike told her about that day and how he felt about it. He recalled little details about what he had experienced. He remembered thinking that their plan wasn't very good just before crashing into the car. He recalled the surprised look on the face of the terrorist who had been driving as he shot him. It was the anger on Sanjay's face as he shot at Chang that Mike remembered the most. It made him realize just how loyal Sanjay was to his friends. That loyalty continued even after they died. Making notes in her pad, Lisa listened to Mike cover the details of the event. She was impressed by the story and his genuine concern for the welfare of others. Their actions might have looked suicidal, but the motives denied that. They had acted without thinking of the possible negative consequences to themselves. She was convinced that he was getting over his depression. ------- Mike looked up at the situation board with a smile. Two more patches of green had disappeared. There were only a dozen left on the board and they had swollen as terrorists pulled back to concentrate their forces. The engagements had become much more violent, but the terrorists were losing. Every week the military went after another one and a green area would vanish. Joe handed him two letters and said, "These just came for you by a courier." "Thanks," Mike said. He opened up the top letter and read the contents with a satisfied smile on his face. The letter outlined the reorganization of the investigative and intelligence capabilities of the country. President Archer had restructured it to reflect how it was actually operating after the disastrous attack on the CIA, NSA, and FBI. The only real national security intelligence function was the sole mission of the Department of Homeland Security. The remaining elements of the CIA formed the core of the Department of Homeland Security along with the NSA, the foreign investigation branch of the FBI, and the Defense Intelligence Agency. Homeland Security was now tasked with protecting the homeland from all external threats to national security even if those threats had already reached inside national boundaries. The main body of the FBI was split out of Homeland Security and was charged with its historic role of criminal investigations of Federal crimes. This included bank robberies, kidnappings, and other crimes of that nature. It operated with the proviso that all information associated with foreign individuals operating within the states was to be handed over to Homeland Security. FEMA, which had long been an unwanted child within the Department of Homeland Security, was split off as well. It returned to its basic charter to deal with disasters regardless of whether they were natural or man-made. The management of FEMA was extremely delighted with that particular change. The most surprising element of the reorganization was that all law enforcement responsibilities had been removed from the Department of Homeland Security. They didn't have the right to make any kind of arrest, but had to work with an appropriate law enforcement agency to uphold the law. They could collect data, issue warnings, and provide information upon request, but that was the limit of their authority. The days of dirty tricks and black operations were long gone. In exchange, they were given access to far more information than would have been tolerated in the past. Mike was pleased with this change. Lessons learned as a result of the history of attacks against analysts had not been wasted. Employees of Homeland Security were allowed, even expected, to carry weapons for self defense. Each of them was to be issued a Federal Carry permit. For Mike, this wasn't that significant of a change since he already possessed one. Mike opened up the second of the two letters. Mouth open, he read he had been promoted to Section Chief. He was now in charge of domestic counterterrorism. He had just finished reading the letter when the telephone rang. He picked up the handset and said, "Hello." "I've been promoted to Section Chief over Asian Technology Assessments," Sanjay said in an excited voice. It meant that he was in charge of the analysts tracking the science and engineering efforts of the entire Far East. It was a very important position despite the fact that it wasn't directly associated with political assessments. "Congratulations, Sanjay," Mike said, "I've been promoted to Section Chief of Domestic Counterterrorism." "Very good, Mike!" Sanjay said. He couldn't think of anyone who would be better in that position. Mike said, "I think I like the reorganization for the Department of Homeland Security." "Same here," Sanjay said. A lot of the management structure had disappeared in the reorganization. He laughed and said, "Now that we're bosses, what are we going to do with all our spare time?" Mike was silent for a moment and then said, "I was thinking that with your busted leg and my busted hand, we aren't going to get much fishing done this year." "It saddens me that I have to agree with you," Sanjay said. ------- Chapter 27 Mike was back at the hospital to have the stitches removed from the shrapnel wounds. He waited in the waiting room listening to the activities taking place around him and watching the news on the television in the room. The news covered a forest fire that was burning out of control in Arkansas, an interview with the Secretary of State, and a speech by the Prime Minister of Great Britain. He had been waiting for half an hour when he realized something important. The news wasn't filled with stories about suicide bombers, sabotage, or other terrorist activities. There were a few instances in which terrorists had surprised people with suicide bombings, but they were becoming much rarer and isolated to the urban areas where there were still major populations of Muslims. The hospital was dealing with normal kinds of emergencies rather than injuries due to terrorist explosions and poisonings. Life in America was returning to normal. His name was called and he followed the nurse to one of the examination rooms. He removed his shirt and pants to give access to his wounds. He put on the little paper gown that he had come to hate. The nurse came in and took his vital signs making appropriate marks on his charts. He watched the process with the kind of boredom that came from experience. It was a few minutes later when a doctor came into the room. Bustling over to the examination table, the doctor started examining the wounds without any small talk. Mike looked away as the doctor examined his hand. For some reason, he didn't want to look at the wound. Pleased with what he had seen, the doctor said, "The small wounds look to be healing well, but your finger still needs to remain under a bandage. I'll take out the stitches and send you on your way." Getting the stitches removed wasn't a particularly painful process, but it wasn't pleasant by any stretch of the imagination. While the doctor worked, Mike asked, "So, will I be able to fish?" "You won't be able to hold the pole with your left hand, but you can crank the reel with it," the doctor answered with a smile, "There for a second I was wondering if you going to ask if you'd be able to play the violin. That, I fear will never be possible." There were a lot of little things that Mike was finding difficult. Tying his shoelaces was nearly impossible with the bandages and he imagined that it would always be a problem. Even the workouts in the gym illustrated that he could not perform many of the exercises. All of the machines for upper body development assumed the use of two hands. Mike nodded his head and said, "I know." The doctor said, "At least you have partial use of the hand." "There is that," Mike said thinking that he could use the one good finger of his left hand to ring the door bell when he visited someone. Finished removing the stitches, the doctor rewrapped the left hand. As he worked, he said, "You can start taking full showers and baths now so long as you keep your left hand dry. I bet that will feel good." "Yes, it will," Mike said. He was tired of taking sponge baths and couldn't wait to take a shower. The doctor finished and said, "Come back in three weeks and I'll check out your hand. Other than that, you're in pretty good shape. I suggest that you continue your exercise program." ------- Watching television at home one night, Mike happened to catch a very chilling speech by Muhammad bin Laden taken from an Arabic station and carried on the Wolf News Channel. It wasn't so much what the man was threatening that made the speech so evil. The speech was nothing more than an order to attack American Women. He described them as worse than the whores of Babylon. He based that claim on the clothes they wore, the lifestyles they lived, and the self-reliant attitudes they had. With their bare arms, painted faces, and tight clothes, American Women were bent on tempting all good men to hell. He explained how such Godless women should be treated by good Muslim men. Since American Women were whores, they were to be treated as whores. A Muslim man could take his pleasure from an American woman without sin or remorse. If she remained unrepentant, then death was mandated. In essence, Muhammad bin Laden had given Muslim men carte blanche to rape and kill American Women. Listening to the man ramble on about the evils of American Women, Mike said, "One of these days I'm going to catch you and you're going to regret every word you've ever said." Standing behind Mike, Kim Sung had listened to a portion of the broadcast. Shaking her head, she said, "That is a very evil man." "The people who follow him are evil. He goes beyond that," Mike said. Mohammed bin Laden ended his speech with a discussion of how little infants are corrupted by the evil of their mother's milk. The female children were fated to be whores while the male children would never be able to take Allah into their hearts. Good Muslim men would not have to worry that their actions might harm the innocent; Allah was all powerful and would protect those who would embrace his word. Listening to the translator, Kim asked, "Is he saying that even infants can be raped and killed?" "Yes," Mike answered. ------- Mike walked out the backdoor of his house for the first time in nearly five months. The change was impressive. What had been a plain patio had been transformed into a little slice of heaven on Earth. Sun Yung stood to the side with a proud little smile on his face knowing that he had created something special. The bathing pond had a natural look to it as if it had been carved by falling water for thousands of years. The small waterfall that fed it was made of real rock with exotic plants growing in some of the spaces between rocks. Surrounding the pond were hundreds of ferns that ranged from small little plants tucked to large tree ferns. Mike had assumed that the floor would be standard decking. Instead, it was rough hewn stone that carried the natural feel of the pond through the rest of the area. Additional plants filled the edges of the patio making it feel like a hidden grotto in some tropical paradise. There were four chairs and a table made of bamboo tucked away in the corner opposite of the bathing pond. Mike went to the sliding door and saw that the look of the patio had actually extended beyond that patio. The Waterfall feature was backed by a rock garden that looked natural. Ground cover had replaced grass through most of the yard. There were bushes that in summer would be very lush and green. Turning to Sun Yung, Mike said, "I've very impressed." "Does this make you happy?" Sun Yung asked. "Yes," Mike answered. Sun Yung gave Mike a half bow and said, "Good. My job is done. I come back for two hours a week to keep garden nice. Now, I go make garden for Teva. Good bye." Mike stared at the retreating back of Sun Yung. He couldn't believe that the man would show off the garden and then leave like that. Turning to Kim Sung, he said, "I think I've only seen him four times since he started this job." "Four times too many if you ask me," Kim said. "Okay," Mike said wondering what the problem was between Kim and Sun. Kim pointed to the bathing pond and said, "Now you try pond." "I don't know if I have a swim suit," Mike said. "No need. You have nothing I haven't seen thousands of times," Kim said. Mike undressed in the enclosed patio. The air temperature was perfect for being naked. He entered the water making sure that he kept his bandaged left hand out of it. The water was just warm enough to be relaxing without being too hot to limit his time in the pond. He discovered that there were seats along the edge of the pond and sat down. The water came to below his nipples when he sat up straight. Pointing to the opposite end of the bathing pool, Kim said, "There is better spot for you on the other side. The seat is a little lower." Mike moved across the pond and found that the water level was just right. Laying his left hand across the rocks, he laid his head back finding that it fit nicely into a depression of the rock. He sighed in satisfaction and closed his eyes. The sound of someone else entering the pond grabbed his attention. Opening his eyes, he saw Kim Sung entering the pool. She was naked and slid into the spot he had tried first. The water came to just over her bare breasts. She sighed and said, "I hate old man, but he does good work." "Yes, he does," Mike agreed. His lower region reacted to her naked body, but he did his best to ignore it. He closed his eyes and leaned back enjoying the water. He had nearly fallen asleep when he felt a hand stroking his cock. Opening his eyes, he found Kim staring intently at him while she aroused his member. She said, "You need me to do this. Close your eyes and relax." It wasn't 'the voice, ' but he obeyed anyway. A moment later he felt her climb on him; his cock slipping into her. Despite the fact that his heart was screaming no, his body reacted automatically to the sensations. She brought him to a very nice climax. She eased off his cock and said, "You needed that. It has been too long since you have had woman and that is not good. It is not healthy. A man needs real sex to keep balanced." "Thank you," Mike said thinking back to the advice he had been given by Larry. The guilt at cheating on Karen was diminished somewhat by the advice of his parents, her parents, and Larry. Kim climbed out of the pond and said, "There is no need to thank me. I am your housekeeper. It is my job to keep you healthy." ------- Mike left the quarterly meeting of the Oversight Committee of Domestic Intelligence with a headache. One would think that three former Presidents and the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court would be reasonable men who carefully considered the issues. Mike was a little overwhelmed by the Office of President, but he was rapidly losing respect for the men who held it in the past. It didn't matter what subject was discussed in any given meeting, there were five very different and mutually exclusive opinions. The five of them couldn't agree on a single issue. Nothing was ever resolved in any of the meetings and Mike was pretty sure that it was not a good thing. Several surveillance operations had been canceled because the group couldn't agree what could be done, but they all agreed that how it was being done was wrong. The meeting that day focused on the use of high tech surveillance equipment that had been developed to acquire intelligence information within houses inside the Muslim enclaves. Sending a cockroach sized mobile surveillance camera into someone's house was pretty intrusive and raised significant privacy issues. The Founding Fathers could never have imagined the existence of such a device. Mike had argued for an area-wide form of warrant. He felt that if there was sufficient evidence that law enforcement officials would be attacked by an entire neighborhood when attempting to enter the area, that an appropriate level of prior surveillance was necessary to protect law enforcement while they were attempting to enforce the law of the land. He thought that an area-wide form of warrant based on clear criteria could serve as an appropriate vehicle to protect people's rights. One former President kept repeating that appropriate legislation would make the question moot. The right bill would allow the President to make the final decision about such matters. It was his opinion that the current President was following a reasonable strategy for eliminating the terrorist threats on the domestic front. The second former President felt that there had to be an individual warrant for each and every household. He didn't care that it might require as many as ten thousand individual warrants. The individual and property had to be named on the warrant. The third former President felt that legislation would be required to set up a special court to oversee the issuance of appropriate search warrants on a case by case basis. Anyone arrested could appeal the case through the legal system until an authoritative ruling was made by the Supreme Court. The Chief Justice said that it would depend on the circumstances, but that he wouldn't be comfortable arguing hypothetical situations. He required concrete situations against which to apply the constitution. His role with respect to the law was to refine the rough edges of how the constitution was interpreted. Mike left the meeting knowing that he was going to have to deliver the order to cancel more than twenty surveillance operations. The only good thing that came out of the meeting was the decision that they could use them to look through windows. Once bullets were flying then using the high tech devices to search houses from which weapons fire was suspected of emerging was legal. ------- Under the guidance of President Anthony Archer, the spiral into social anarchy was halted. The number of deaths per week due to terrorist activities dropped to single digits for the first time since the New Years Massacre. It wasn't due to a lack of effort on the part of the terrorists. Their efforts were being thwarted before they could be effective. Enrollments in colleges rose for the first time since the mass murder rampages by terrorists on campuses had nearly destroyed higher education. The Muslim population in the country was decreasing at an impressive rate. Each month, thousands of individuals with visa problems were deported with the stern warning that they were not to ever return or attempt to harm America. The military encounters with enclaves further reduced the population. Moderate Muslims fled the country knowing that they would be trapped between their radical brethren and very angry Americans. It was virtually impossible for conservative Muslims to move around America without being observed. One word of Arabic was sufficient to rouse suspicions. A woman wearing a Burka was sufficient to identify the entire party as Muslim. People pointed to them as they moved from one place to another. Cops followed their cars just waiting for an excuse to stop them. Sanctuary cities stopped existing. The Muslims weren't the only ones to suffer increased public scrutiny. All foreigners were watched with suspicion. Protests that profiling was illegal fell on deaf ears. It was hard to condemn profiling when everyone on the street looked at foreigners with the same level of distrust with which law enforcement had been accused. The liberals who had been a major enabler for terrorism had lost power. Celebrities who had been too vocal with regard to liberal matters found their careers were dead. Arguments that America had to understand what motivated the terrorists to kill Americans were ignored. Who cared why someone was trying to kill you? When someone threatened to blow their self up in a crowd, it became kill or be killed. Americans were tired of being killed. Although the price of oil had risen to over two hundred dollars a barrel, the economy didn't take the nosedive that many predicted. At four dollars a gallon, gasoline remained relatively cheap since alternative fuel sources had finally come of age. One of the surprises had been the development of a process for creating fuel from Kudzu, the plant that ate the south, and hemp. This process had actually relieved some of the price pressure on food that had resulted from using corn as a fuel source. The Islamic world outside of American borders watched the trend with dismay. The superpower was not weakening like they thought it would. In fact, it appeared that it was getting stronger. The decadence that had fueled much of their anger appeared to be waning. Their anger turned to the local rulers in the belief that they were somehow supporting America. Political regimes all over the Middle East were toppled and replaced by Islamic radicals. Country after country declared war on the United States, but the oceans made the declarations meaningless. Hidden alliances that had worked to keep America from exercising its real power were falling apart. China discovered that it was much more dependant on the American dollar than it had realized. Countries that had been manufacturing goods were dismayed as companies in the United States returned to local manufacturing. With the dangers of traveling overseas, tourism dollars from the United States dried up. That was a major hit to European economies. The hemorrhage of money in research and engineering activities had stopped. Projects that would have once taken forever were being finished early and well under budget. A common phrase that was being increasingly heard in business was, "American ingenuity requires Americans, not Chinese or Indians." It was an unfair sentiment, but one that was being widely accepted. As terrorism in other parts of the world rose, the attention of groups that had been highly critical of the United States turned to protecting their own citizens. Paris nearly exploded when the Muslim population staged a protest in which cars were burned, store windows were smashed, and the police were assaulted with Molotov Cocktails. That is not to say that Europe embraced America. Europe blamed America for creating the problem and then exporting it to them. It was in this political environment that President Anthony Archer announced that America was ready to enter phase two of his war on terror. He demanded that foreign governments hunt down and kill terrorists living within their borders that had attacked American property and taken American lives. He warned that if those countries didn't take actions against the terrorists, that America would act. President Archer justified his position by using an analogy based on a neighbor having a den of poisonous snakes in their backyard. He argued that if the neighbor wouldn't take care of the problem and the legal authorities were unwilling to act, then it was necessary to take care of the problem oneself. This was particularly true if the snakes were killing family members. It became a matter of self-defense. He concluded his announcement by giving a list of countries that he expected to comply immediately with his demands. It was an announcement that rocked the world; particularly since the first two countries on the list were Canada and Mexico. Canadians were furious at the charge that they were supporting terrorism. ------- While tying the boat to the dock, Tim Brown glanced over at the miserable expressions on Mike's and Sanjay's faces. Laughing, he said, "The two of you are worthless." "Hey, I'm working one handed over here," Mike complained while manhandling a rope with a single hand. His left hand was still bandaged, but he didn't think that removing the bandage would have improved the situation any. Sanjay stood on crutches looking down at the boat seriously concerned that he wouldn't be able to get into it. With visions of ending up in the river with water over his head, he said, "This doesn't look good. I'm going to drown." Tim laughed and said, "Don't worry about it. I'll take care of the boat. You two need to figure out how Sanjay is going to get into the boat." It took fifteen minutes for them to get Sanjay in the boat, but soon thereafter they were headed down the river to one of Sanjay's favorite fishing spots. Sanjay was at the wheel piloting the boat. Tim was seated in the middle of the boat with Mike at the rear. Tim had suggested that seating arrangement so that he would be in a position to help the two cripples. While the boat was moving there wasn't much of a chance to talk. The noise from the engine overpowered human lungs. The sudden quiet when Sanjay reached the destination was a blessing. The boat drifted with the current until Sanjay engaged the trolling motor. It took them a few minutes to organize themselves for fishing. Much to his chagrin, Mike had to have Tim attach the lure to his line. Sanjay didn't laugh at his friend's obvious frustration knowing that the minute he caught a fish that Tim was going to have to handle the net. Mike cast his lure out towards the shore and started cranking it back. Smiling, he said, "Now that is more like it." Although he appreciated having been asked to join them on the river, Tim was curious about why they had chosen him to join them. As far as he knew, neither one of them knew that he enjoyed fishing. He asked, "So why did you two decide to ask me to come fishing with you?" "Sanjay and I were sitting around trying to figure out how we were going to get any time fishing this summer. I remembered that when you first approached me about joining the Intelligence 100 that you used going fishing as an excuse," Mike answered. "I forgot about that," Tim said although he wasn't surprised by Mike's ability to recall little facts like that. It was one of the things that made Mike such a good analyst. He said, "I do appreciate the invitation. The past few years have kept me from doing things like this. Fighting cancer took a lot out of me. Add long working hours on top of that and I was more than happy to spend my time off asleep in bed." "I know what you mean," Mike said casting again towards the shore. Tim opened the bag he had brought with him and pulled out a thermos. Holding it up, he asked, "Coffee anyone?" Thinking about the kind of juggling that drinking a coffee and a fishing pole would require, Mike answered, "Maybe a little later." "I'll take some," Sanjay said bobbling his head. Tim poured out two cups of coffee and handed one to Sanjay. After taking a sip of his coffee, Tim said, "Being out here lets me think that life is returning to normal." "It is a little better," Sanjay said. He was wearing his jacket with an American flag on the shoulders. He had bought it in the hope that people wouldn't look at him with so much hostility, but it hadn't worked. The fact was that things had eased off a little over the past month or so as more terrorists died without killing Americans. "We'll see what happens when we bomb Toronto," Tim said. Mike and Sanjay both turned to look at Tim. Mike asked, "We're going to bomb Toronto?" "I gave the GPS coordinates of the homes of five major terrorist leaders to the Air Force yesterday. These terrorists have been operating out of Toronto. They have been coordinating the smuggling of military supplies across our border. They were responsible for some of the most devastating attacks against us," Tim answered. "Wow," Sanjay said. He was very surprised that President Archer would actually make good on his threats. "Yes, wow," Tim said chuckling. Shaking his head, he said, "We have asked Canadian officials to take these guys into custody over a dozen times, but they refused each time. They said that the men had not been observed breaking Canadian law and that Canada didn't want to get dragged into America's problems. The real problem is that they don't want to extradite them to us because we'll put them to death." "Shit," Mike said. "Hey, they have a huge Muslim population that has been acquiring political power there. The leadership doesn't want to rock the boat," Tim said shrugging his shoulders. He understood their attitude, but knew that it was a strategy that was doomed to failure in the long run. "The terrorists are losing the war here, but winning it everywhere else," Sanjay said shaking his head. "I wonder if President Archer understands the full consequences of his actions. Does he think that if we blow up terrorists in other countries that the leadership of those countries will blame us publicly even while covertly supporting our actions," Mike said. Tim said, "I'm not so sure that he does understand. I'd be really pissed if the Canadian government bombed someplace here in America regardless of their reason. I'm sure the average Canadian feels the same way about us bombing them." "That is too true," Sanjay said bobbling his head. "Oh shit! I caught one!" Mike said trying to set the hook and reel in the fish. Although his left hand slipped off the handle a few times, Mike managed to bring the fish up to the boat. Tim was ready with the net but Mike lifted the fish out of the water with the pole. It was probably the smallest bass that Mike had ever caught in his life. It was almost five inches long. Looking at it, he asked, "Isn't that a monster?" Tim grabbed the fish and removed it from the hook. He held it up and asked, "Is it a keeper?" "A fish that large should be mounted on the wall of your house," Sanjay said laughing. Tim released the fish and said, "He'll grow up to be a monster one of these days. He's learned a lesson from this." ------- The Wolf News Channel, over that weekend, carried a report about a protest that was taking place outside of what had once been a New York strip club. The club had been burned to the ground earlier that week by a Muslim man. The man had been caught while trying to rape one of the strippers after starting the fire. Mike watched as a stripper was being interviewed outside the burned out shell that had once been the place of her employment. The stripper was giving the interview topless and for a change the image of her breasts was not being pixilated out. Behind her, another half dozen women, all of whom were topless, were standing around carrying signs that read, 'Down with Islam, ' 'Proud to be an American Woman, ' and 'I Will Never Wear A Burka.' Not believing his eyes, Mike listened as the reporter asked, "Why are you topless?" "The terrorists hate American women for being proud of the fact that we're women," the stripper answered. Pointing to her breasts, she stared at the camera and said, "I'm a woman and I'm proud of it. I'm showing off my breasts to make a point." The reporter asked, "What point?" "The terrorists aren't going to force me to wear a tent that covers me from head to toe. I'm doing exactly the opposite of what they want. I'm not wearing a top until those are wiped off the face of this planet," the stripper answered. Taking the interview as a joke, Mike chuckled and said, "That's one way of showing those bastards." ------- Chapter 28 Feeling a little depressed, Cathy watched Mike hard at work on one of those special projects that arose from time to time. Not understanding why it was, she was fascinated by him. She thought he was handsome, but that wasn't the real reason. He was an amazing mixture of qualities. When working on something that really required his attention, he was focused, intense, and dedicated. She knew there were times when he stayed until late at night pursuing terrorists. When relaxing during the occasional slow times, he was reserved while demonstrating that he cared about his people. When people were stressed, he sent them out to relax. When people were depressed, he listened to their stories of woe. He always had a good word for people, praising them when they did well and consoling them when things didn't work out right. She had seen him work at the height of crises that should have turned him surly. At all times, he was calm, cool, collected, and polite. She thought it was amazing that when the whole world was turning upside down, Mike kept his feet and led everyone to safety. The fact of the matter was that Mike was everything that she wanted in a man. She didn't care that he was almost fourteen years older than her. He was in better shape than most men her age. He was strong, powerful, and wise. It was a combination that left her weak in her knees. The times at work that she liked best was when he asked her to operate the keyboard for him. That was when he was unusually intense. He stood over her with his weight resting on his right hand watching what she was doing. His focus on the task at hand was almost supernatural in its intensity. She knew that he had no idea how it affected her. There were times when she wore low cut tops to work. She hoped that he would ask her to type and would notice the swell of her breasts when he leaned over her to watch what she was typing. If he did notice, he never showed it. She knew his attention was on saving the world and not lusting after her. In a way she could understand it, but that didn't make her disappointment any less. She tried to get his attention by doing little things that he would appreciate. She fixed his coffee and delivered it without him having to ask for it. She knew what he liked to eat every day of the week. When there was a surprise item on the menu that he liked better she knew to get it. She made sure that the office was stocked with the snacks that he usually requested. No matter what she did, it seemed to her that he didn't notice. At first she thought that it was because of his grief over losing his wife and son. As time went by and his grief never lessened, she began to get worried. Then he started to recover although the signs of recovery were subtle at first. There were little chuckles, jokes, and smiles. He seemed to be a little more relaxed as he moved around the room. The tension that had always been present in his shoulders abated. For about four months she waited hopeful that he would notice her as a woman rather than a coworker. He didn't and it had begun to weigh heavily upon her. She wondered if she wasn't attractive enough. There were times when she was sure that her lack of formal education was a problem. She started attending a local college when it reopened to get a degree in economics. Still he never noticed. Although she had tried to be discreet, Joe knew how she felt. He kept telling her that Mike would notice her one day. She wanted to believe Joe, but she had just about given up hope. She had gone on a date over the weekend with a man, but he had turned out to be a jerk. The comparison between the man and Mike had highlighted everything she appreciated about him. She sighed and watched him work. Her thoughts kept returning to the same subject time after time. When would he notice her? ------- The news on television covered the reaction of world to the destruction of three apartment complexes in Toronto, Canada. In fact, that was the only thing that was on the news. There were interviews with any one of any significance in the world. The Canadian Prime Minister was clearly outraged at the incursion on Canadian soil that the act represented. He stopped short of declaring war on the United States, but did say that future trespasses would not be tolerated. The President of France declared that the United States was showing its true colors as a country that desired world domination. France was not alone in feeling that way, but it was the most vocal. Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, and Belgium quickly jumped on that bandwagon. South American countries had believed that all along and didn't even bat an eye. Even Great Britain was rather surprised by the attack on the soil of a fellow Commonwealth country. The Press raised a riot, but the response of the Prime Minister was subdued. It was as if the Prime Minister had known in advance that it was going to happen. It was obvious that he did not approve of the action, but he didn't condemn it in public. Australia was notably quiet. It had basically followed the American plan to get rid of radical Islam. The reaction in the Middle East was quite predictable. It howled that America was nothing but a rabid dog that would turn on friend and foe alike. They pointed to the deaths of innocent Muslim Canadians who had just been sitting at home with their families as an act of war against Muslims. The call to arms in a Holy Jihad against America was raised again. Tens of thousands of young Muslim men answered the call. Reporters who were still predominately liberal raised a cry of protest against the actions of President Archer. To any moderately informed observer of the press, it wasn't clear what had angered them the most. Was it the fact that the President didn't warn them so that they could have cameras on the scene or was it that they viewed it as an act of war? They called for his impeachment in a soft voice afraid that the rest of America wouldn't go along with them. America didn't go along with them. Rather than give a standard speech from the White House in which the President explained his actions, the President responded with a half hour video that looked as if it had been professionally produced. It was the first time that a President had released a documentary that covered a current event. It was a very effective manner to present the reasoning behind the actions taken by the White House. It pulled the teeth from the commentators who wanted to interpret every word of a Presidential speech so that they could put their political spin on it. The opposition party was left speechless. The video started by showing surveillance videos of several men going into and out of a store of a mall. The front of the store had signs declaring that it would be opening soon. Small photographs of the men's faces were placed across the top of the screen. As the video played, the President's voice gave a summary of the actions that the men were performing. The video cut to a scene of the mall a week later. The store was open, but there were dead bodies littering the floor around the store. It showed people going into the mall in Hazmat suits and then carrying the victims out of the mall. The President talked about how many people had died in the attack. With the now famous picture of Mike kneeling between two women as the background, an audio tape of a conversation between the Canadian Prime Minister and the President was played. The President demanded the extradition of the individuals captured on video while giving details on where the men were located. The Prime Minister refused and did so with the simple explanation that no matter how serious the crime, Canada wouldn't extradite to a country that practiced the death penalty. It was a matter of principle. President Archer countered by saying that America would not respect the borders of any country that harbored terrorists known to have killed Americans. America would take any actions necessary in pursuing those terrorists. The Prime Minister hung up on the President. The next segment showed the same individuals walking into apartment buildings. The videos were zoomed to show their faces which matched five of those across the top of the screen. Two minutes after they entered the buildings, the structures were then hit with missiles. The image was brutal, but one couldn't help but shout, "Yes! We got the bastards!" Mike watched the half hour video with tears in his eyes. Although his features were not visible, he had seen himself moving through the mall searching for his wife. The video has shown him picking up one of the victims and carrying the young child out of the mall. He had stared at the hated picture of his misery. The image of the building collapsing with the terrorist inside left him feeling frustrated. He had wanted to be the one who pushed that button. After watching the video released by the President, Mike called his therapist and scheduled an appointment for first thing the following morning. ------- Early the next morning, Mike dropped into the chair and said, "I watched the President's video last night." Given such a flat statement of fact, Lisa knew that it was actually a cry to discuss the matter. It was up to her to guide him through the subject. Settling in her seat, she asked, "How did it make you feel?" "Cheated," Mike answered. "Why?" Unreasonably angry, Mike said, "I should have been the one to push the button that took out those bastards." "Why?" In a very angry voice, he answered, "They murdered my wife and son." Lisa was about to probe deeper when he sagged in his chair. In a very soft voice that was very difficult to hear across the room, he said, "My wife was in a shoe store buying shoes for our son when the terrorists released the poison gas. I know that because there was one new shoe on his foot. It was a tennis shoe. The other shoe was on the floor where it had been dropped. My wife was lying on the floor beside the empty box. My son was on the floor beside her. You could see that she had held him in her arms when he died, but she couldn't hold him when the poison affected her." Lisa listened to the story with a frown. As far as she knew, Mike was at the hospital having his left hand operated on to replace shattered bones with steel rods. There was no way that he should have known those little details. Confused, she asked, "How do you know that?" Mike looked at her and carefully considered his words. Finally, he answered, "Because the man kneeling next to my wife in that fucking picture is me. The other woman there was President Archer's wife. I was not in the hospital at the time of the attack." "Oh," Lisa said sitting back in her seat. A lot of little clues finally added up for her and the tremendous guilt that he felt about the death of his wife was explained. She repeated, "Oh!" "Do you want to know what haunts me to this day?" Nodding, Lisa answered, "Yes." "I could only carry one of them at a time. I carried Karen out of the mall, but I was just too weak to go back for Robert. I keep thinking that his spirit must believe that I didn't love him," Mike answered with tears streaming down his cheeks. It had hurt to admit that aloud. It was the first time that he had allowed himself to even admit it to himself. "I'm sure that he knew how much you loved him," Lisa said wondering how he had managed to keep so much guilt hidden away. ------- It was only by accident that Mike was able to watch the live feed from a battle that took place in Jersey City, New Jersey. Jim had a mini-drone over the area mapping out the defenses that had been put into place by the Muslims living in the area. Jim didn't even realize that a battle was erupting until well after it had started. It had started when a New Jersey State Trooper had asked a Muslim driver who was speeding for his identification. The man had killed the trooper and drove off into the predominately Muslim neighborhood. This was the largest and densest enclave of Muslims in the country. It was from this neighborhood that the Blind Cleric Sheik Omar Abdel-Rahman had helped organize the first attack on the World Trade Center. A second trooper, who had arrived in time to observe the killing of the first trooper, gave chase. On entering the Muslim controlled neighborhood, he was killed in a hail of bullets from buildings all around the area. Before dying, the trooper managed to radio for help. More troopers and local police arrived on the scene and were met with a hail of bullets. From the Emergency Operations Center outside the capital, the Governor called in the National Guard. By the time the National Guard had organized, the neighborhood had become a hornet's nest of activity. Groups were running into buildings and emerging later covered in blood. It was about this time that Jim realized that he was watching the beginning of a major battle. Mike called the Emergency Operations Center and provided a live feed from the mini-drone they had circling the area. The Department of Homeland Security representative had not arrived at the Emergency Operations Center. Mike tried to convey what was happening inside Jersey City, but the State Police were more concerned with what was happening with their people. After five minutes of arguing, they hung up on Mike. Even as the National Guard was approaching, they could see the weapons atop the buildings. Narrow streets and traffic made access difficult in the best of times, but cars abandoned in random patterns in the street made ingress virtually impossible. The National Guard was nearly beaten back when they realized that they had moved into an ambush. With the battle escalating out of control, the Army and the Air Force were brought in to provide support. Helicopters fired rockets into buildings from which gunfire was emerging. Buildings were leveled as bombs were dropped on fortified strongholds. The fighting went street to street. As troops moved into the buildings, the fighting reached truly ferocious levels. Attempting to spare the women and children, soldiers tried to move them out of the battle. Much to the horror of the soldiers, the women and children attacked them with whatever weapons were handy. Even as they attacked, they screamed that it was an honor to die for the glory of Allah. Mike watched as a woman ran screaming to a small group of soldiers as if in fear for her life and seeking protection from the violence. She detonated the bomb she was wearing when she reached the cluster of soldiers. Seeing that, word quickly spread to the other soldiers engaged in the fight. It became a massacre after that. Charlie sat at his station watching the events unfold. Shaking his head, he said, "We had nearly finished planning how to go about taking the neighborhood." "Urban warfare is the worst," Mike said staring at his left hand as memories of his encounter with terrorists returned. "We have better tools for taking apart an urban battlefield, but they weren't used here," Jim said in disgust. He had spent months studying that neighborhood. He knew where everyone lived, worked, and worshiped. He knew each and every danger that law enforcement would face. He smashed his fist on the table and shouted, "I'm an idiot." "What?" For a half a minute, Jim frantically typed the commands that would move the drone to another area of the city. The drone arrived over the target and broadcast a beehive of activity. Horrified by what he was seeing, Jim answered, "Watch what happens there." Mike looked up at the board and saw a large chemical storage tank. There were men climbing on it. He asked, "What is it?" "Chlorine," Jim answered feeling lower than an earthworm. He couldn't believe that he had been so caught up in watching the battle that he hadn't thought about the tactics the terrorists would use. He had seen them practice this maneuver and knew that they would explode the tank within a minute. "We've got to warn them," Mike said reaching for the telephone. "It's too late," Jim said as the tank exploded and released its contents into the area. The wind was in the wrong direction and it carried the vapors away from the battle and into the nearby neighborhood. He hit the table with his fist and said, "I don't know why I didn't realize they would do that until I saw them on the tank." "How in the hell did they get that tank there?" Mike asked thinking it was a huge quantity of chlorine to be located inside an urban area. Realizing that he had stopped dialing, he resumed his attempt to reach the Emergency Operations Center outside of Trenton. They had to know that the crisis was spreading beyond Jersey City. The four years under the previous President had really given the terrorists a chance to shape the domestic battlefield. They had used the 'ask no questions or I'll sue' tactic to move very dangerous materials into urban areas. Shaking his head, Charley answered, "Five years ago they built a specialty bottled water plant there. That gave them access to the chemicals for water treatment, including chlorine gas." When the DHS representative at the other end answered the phone, Mike said, "This is Mike Bowman from the Department of Homeland Security. We just observed a huge release of Chlorine gas from a water treatment plant. The vapor cloud appears to be heading into Hoboken, New Jersey. Details are being forwarded to you right now." "Shit," was the only reply before the phone was hung up. "I've gotten the word out about the Chlorine," Mike said watching the live feed. The situation had degraded even further. Buildings were on fire and smoke made the images from the mini-drones useless. Jim was staring at his computer in shock. He kept repeating over and over, "I should have known." After making several attempts to get Jim's attention, Mike looked over at Cathy and said, "Help me get him to his analyst now." "Yes, sir," Cathy answered picking up her car keys while thinking that he really knew how to take charge in a crisis. Mike went over to Jim and helped the man stand. With a little effort, he managed to lead Jim to Cathy's car. Sitting in the back seat with him, Mike said, "Listen to me, Jim. It wasn't your fault. This wasn't our operation." ------- The death toll of the Jersey City battle was significant. This was one of the most populated areas in the entire country with a population density of over thirty thousand people per square mile. Thirty-three thousand Muslim residents had died in the battle while six hundred and forty-two soldiers and members of law enforcement had been killed. That was nothing compared to the real horror of the battle. The non-Muslim population living in Jersey City had been slaughtered even before the National Guard had arrived. The death toll was estimated to be over a hundred thousand. The collateral damage in Hoboken included chlorine gas poisoning with more than a thousand fatalities and the count was still rising. What had started as a simple traffic ticket had escalated into a national crisis. President Anthony Archer looked across the table at Mike Bowman with an angry frown on his face. Furious, he asked, "What happened there?" "It wasn't an organized effort. It started small and escalated beyond control. The State Troopers played it by ear. None of our intelligence was accessed. We were following the battle and making reports, but we didn't have any recommendations. We're not really set up to provide military decisions," Mike answered. "In the past six years, over seven hundred thousand Americans have been killed by terrorists. Over four million have been injured. I'm not counting Muslim bastards in those numbers," Tony said. He swiveled in his chair and said, "That mess in Jersey City was the last straw. I don't want a single Muslim left in this country at the end of the month." "It's not going to happen," Mike said flatly. He remembered the national guilt at having locked up Japanese in internment camps during World War II. "Why?" "There were between five and eight million Muslims in the country in 1992. That figure appears to have doubled during the previous President's term with the majority of the increase being from the Middle East, Philippines, Indonesia, Africa, and Europe. A significant percentage of the Muslim population is in the Black Community. Although in 1992, they represented almost 42% of the Muslims that has dropped down to around 26%. They are citizens, born and raised in this country. They are not imported terrorists. I know that some of the more radical groups have joined in Jihad, but the majority of them are honest Americans," Mike answered. "Those fuckers are killing the rest of us in the name of their religion. I don't give a shit if they were born here or on Mars. I want them gone," Tony said hitting the table with his fist. It was his frustration talking. When he had heard the news about the massacre, he had gone into the bathroom and thrown up. "Mr. President, I understand your desire, but I respectfully disagree that it will ever come to fruition. If American citizens are supporting the terrorists, they will be treated like terrorists. We will hunt them down and kill them for being a terrorist. If a Muslim is obeying the law, we will not harm them," Mike said looking across the table. "My God man, Muslims killed your wife and son," Tony said. "Terrorists killed my wife and son," Mike said. "We can't trust Muslims," Tony said stating something that he only partially believed. Seeing that Tony was frustrated more than he was serious, Mike said, "I am a Marine. Our motto is Semper Fidelous. It means ever faithful to Corp and Country. That does not mean that we will be faithful to the Government of the United States when it turns against the American People. We are faithful to the American People. I can not condone hunting down and killing an American because of their religion." "It is a vile religion," Tony said lamely. "I know that you take oaths very seriously. You gave an oath to protect the Constitution of the United States of America," Mike said with a smile to take the edge off his words. Sitting back in his chair, Tony said, "You're right. I guess I sometimes need people like you around to remind me of my real duty. It is just that they butchered a hundred thousand people in their homes. The American People have turned to me and are demanding to know what I'm doing about the situation. What am I to tell them?" Mike looked across the table and said, "You will tell the American people what you've been telling them since that day you came to the hospital to visit me. You are taking aim at the terrorists." "Are we?" "The military is preparing a strategy for moving into the Los Angeles and San Diego enclaves. It will be a controlled encounter that is designed to minimize collateral damage. We are providing them with the intelligence that will allow them to target the bad guys. In time, there won't be a major enclave of terrorists," Mike answered. ------- Vincent handed Mike a beer before sitting down at the picnic table. Smiling, he raised his beer and said, "Cheers." Wondering why the Admiral was in such a good mood, Mike returned the toast. "Cheers." "You won't believe what was delivered this week," Vincent said. "What?" Mike asked. He hadn't seen the Admiral this cheerful since Karen died. "We got a new laser," Vincent said. He watched Mike to see his reaction. This was almost too much fun. "Okay, I'll bite. What is so great about this new laser?" Mike asked. "The power supply is based on your design. Someone got the bright idea to swap out the rails and replace them with the electrodes of a traveling wave laser. That sucker is powerful and lightweight. We can mount it on an airplane and take out a missile with it," Vincent said. "That's nice," Mike said wondering how his power supply was being used to power a laser. As far as he knew, it wasn't powerful enough to create the energy necessary for a laser capable of taking out a missile. His thoughts made his reaction seem a little less positive than he really felt. "You don't understand. We're in a position to create a defensive shield around the country," Vincent said. After taking a swig of his beer, he added, "We'll be safe." "That's good news," Mike said not quite understanding what Vincent was telling him. Seeing the lack of understanding on Mike's face, Vincent said, "My whole career in the military has been spent knowing that one missile with an atomic warhead could destroy my entire fleet in the blink of an eye. There was always that fear nagging at me that no matter how well trained my men were, there was nothing that I could do to truly protect the fleet. With this laser, it is not just my fleet, but the whole country that is protected from nuclear attack." Nodding his head, Mike said, "I can see how important that is with respect to a nuclear missile, but I don't think that it makes us safe with regard to other delivery mechanisms." "I'm not worried about the other mechanisms. I think that it would be virtually impossible to bring enough nuclear weapons into the country to destroy us. The missile threat is the important threat," the Admiral replied. "The terrorists don't have an ICBM," Mike said. He knew that Pakistan did have nuclear weapons and that several countries in the Middle East were getting blueprints for the manufacture of them from Pakistan. Vincent leaned forward and said, "This morning, nine training camps in Indonesia were destroyed by the Pacific Fleet. The war on terror is moving to where the terrorists live. We are creating enemies and I'm not just talking about religious extremists. I'm talking real countries. I have no doubt that we will be creating more of them as time goes by. There are several countries that have the ability to throw nuclear missiles at us. One of them is going to attempt to bomb us." "You think it is going to come to that?" Mike asked knowing that it was a foolish question. Russia, China, and North Korea all had the means of delivering a nuclear missile to the United States. The Cuban Missile Crisis of Kennedy fame had demonstrated that a country didn't need a missile program of its own to suddenly become a threat. "I know it is going to come to that," Vincent said with a tired sigh. Nodding his head, Mike said, "You don't like what the President is doing." "It isn't a good way to make friends," Vincent said. After taking a drink of his beer, he said, "I know they took out the men who killed my little girl, but violating Canada's border like that was wrong. Canada might have some problems with us, but it has always been a valuable ally." "I agree," Mike said. The current phase of operations bothered him, but he didn't have a better plan. That was the real problem with dealing with other countries. There was never a great plan that satisfied everyone, just plans that were barely acceptable to the few that had to make the decision. He said, "We are killing men who are willing to die in order to kill Americans. The real question is if Americans have to die in the process. I think a lot of the world believes that Americans deserve to die." "We're not convincing them otherwise." ------- Chapter 29 Cathy brought over a coffee and set it on Mike's workstation. She turned away without saying a word to him. Mike watched her go and wondered what the matter with her was. She was normally very cheerful. He watched her go about her work in a rather listless manner. When she went to make the lunch run, Mike called Joe over and asked, "What's the matter with Cathy?" Looking at Mike as if he was a dimwit, Joe answered, "She's rather fond of this idiot and he's not paying her any attention." "Oh, I guess there's nothing I can do about that," Mike said with a shrug of his shoulders. He turned back to his desk to read more of a report. Joe looked down at Mike's left hand. The bandage had been off for a while. The little finger and the ring finger didn't work. The stumpy middle finger wasn't of much use. There was only the forefinger and the thumb that worked. Smiling, he reached down and grabbed the one good finger. Bending it back far enough to be painful, Joe said, "If you don't ask her out, I'm going to break this finger right off." "What are you talking about?" Mike asked looking down at his one good finger. All he needed now was to lose the last good finger and all he would be able to do with that hand would be to hitchhike. "You're the idiot she's rather fond of," Joe said shaking his head. He released the finger and said, "Ask her out and show her a good time. Maybe she'll like you afterwards; maybe not. At least give her a chance." "Okay," Mike said looking up at Joe as if he was crazy. Joe walked off muttering, "It's always up to the Gunny Sergeant to show these wet behind the ears Lieutenants the ropes. He's just as bad as his..." ------- Mike knew that the people he worked with were capable of keeping secrets; that was their job. He didn't realize that they could gossip like a bunch of old hens about things that weren't secret. Within hours the news that Mike had asked Cathy out on a date had spread far and wide. Stepping into the house, Mike found Kim Sung waiting for him by the massage table. Her oils were in a bath of warm water. She greeted him, "Welcome home. I have had your clothes pressed for your date tonight." Mike stared blankly at Kim wondering how she knew about the date. Less than three hours had passed since he had asked Cathy to have dinner with him. He asked, "How did you know about the date?" "Teva told me," Kim answered with a smile. "How did she know?" Mike asked knowing the answer. "Sanjay told her," Kim answered. Mike had no idea how Sanjay knew, but he was pretty sure that asking Kim wouldn't produce an answer. He asked, "You pressed my clothes?" "Yes. I want you to look your best," Kim said with a slight bow. Pointing to the massage table, she said, "Your date is at seven. You have time for a massage before you go." Thinking about how Kim usually ended the massage, Mike wasn't sure that it was such a good idea. He was about to object when Kim used the voice on him. Pointing to the table, she commanded, "Strip and get on the table." Mike was not about to disobey. He stripped and positioned himself on the table. An hour later a much more relaxed man left the table. Like all of the massages that Kim gave, this one had ended with a hand job. Nodding to herself with satisfaction, Kim said, "Now you will be able to focus on her needs. Shower, shave, and dress for your date. Your clothes are on the bed." "Thank you," Mike said thinking that perhaps she was right about being able to focus on Cathy's needs. That hand job had definitely taken the edge off his sexual frustrations. Unfamiliar with the dating scene in the Washington area, Mike had asked for advice on where to take Cathy for a nice drink and a meal. His request had sparked a long hour of discussion and the result was that he had reservations for eight o'clock at the Two Quail. Thus it was that a few minutes after eight he pulled into the parking lot of the unpretentious historic row house. Cathy, wearing the finest dress that she owned, looked at the building and asked, "Are you sure this is the right place?" "Yes," Mike answered wondering if the guys at work had known what they were doing. Shirley had insisted that Cathy would be suitably impressed. All doubts were dispelled when they entered the restaurant. They were taken to a nice semi-secluded nook where they could talk without having to shout. There was no rush in getting through the meal. They started with drinks and then moved on to appetizers. The main course was outstanding and the service impeccable. It was the best dining experience of Mike's life. The fanciest place at which Cathy had ever dined was a high-end chain restaurant. Needless to say, she was overwhelmed. The quality wine had gone to her head; the service had made her feel like a queen; and the food had left her appetite sated. All of that paled in comparison to the conversation. Rather than talk about himself, Mike had asked Cathy about her life. She talked about her childhood, her family, and her job. She talked about her dreams and desires. She talked of hopes for a college education that were dashed when her family couldn't afford it and was now being pursued after work. By the end of the evening, she was convinced that Mike was one of the finest conversationalists that she had ever met. For Mike, it was a pleasant evening in which he managed to forget his problems for a few hours. Listening to Cathy talk about her family gave him insights into a totally different lifestyle. She had lived her entire life in the same house whereas he had grown up moving from military base to military base as his father's commands changed. She had gone to the same school with the same group of kids while he had attended a different school every other year. It was well after eleven when Mike parked his car in front of Cathy's house. This was the moment that he had been dreading. He didn't know if he was to kiss her in the car, escort her to the door, or wait to see if she invited him into the house. Looking at the lights of the house, Cathy said, "I'd invite you in, but my parents are still awake." "Oh," Mike said. Cathy licked her lips and looked at him expectantly. When he didn't pick up the hint, she moved closer to him and said, "I want to thank you for a wonderful evening." "I had a very good time," Mike said feeling the palms of his hands sweat. She leaned in and kissed him. After a quick flash of the first time he had kissed Karen, Mike returned the kiss finding that his passion flared into desire for her. By the time the kiss ended, they were both breathless. Feeling out of her depth, Cathy said, "I better get in the house now." "Sure," Mike said wondering what he was supposed to say. "I'll see you tomorrow," Cathy said hesitating in opening the car door. Mike pulled himself together and said, "Let me escort you to the door." "That would be nice," Cathy said. She had never had a young man escort her to the door of her house. Mike got out of the car and went around to her side. Together they walked up to the door; both nervous about what to say next. When they reached the door, Mike stopped and licked his lips nervously. He said, "Maybe we can do this again sometime." "That would be wonderful," Kim said very pleased that the fabulous evening was coming to a perfect end. Mike leaned over and kissed her again. Free from the awkward constraints of the car, Cathy was able to mold her body against his. They were both weak in the knees before ending the kiss. Cathy opened the door and slipped into the house before she lost total control. Once the door had closed, Mike made his way to the car. He turned back and saw that she was watching him from the window. ------- Mike had just finished his morning jog and was about to have a small breakfast when his telephone rang. He listened as Kim Sung answered it and then accepted the phone from her when she brought it to the table. With a very satisfied expression on her face, she announced, "It is your mother." "Hello, mom," Mike said into the handset. "How was your date last night?" she asked. "How did you know that I had a date last night?" he asked surprised by the call. "A mother has her ways," Louise answered with a laugh. It was the one line she had used on Mike whenever he had done something without telling her. Mike looked over Kim who was watching him with innocence written all over her face. He said, "I think I found out your source." "So how was it?" "It went well, I think," Mike answered. "Are you seeing her again?" Mike chuckled at the grilling and knew that she would dig out one fact at time until she knew the whole story. He answered, "She said that she would like to go out with me again." "That's good. Cathy is such a nice girl," Louise said. Stunned, Mike didn't know what to say. He didn't have a chance to say anything. His mother said, "I better let you go. You've got to get to work." Before he knew it, his mother had hung up the phone. He was left staring at the handset in shock. The telephone rang again. He hit the talk button and said, "Hello." "Hello, Mike. This is Sally. How was your date with Cathy last night?" Deciding that the rumor mill was running full steam ahead, he answered, "It went well. She said that she'd be interested in going out with me again sometime." "You didn't set a date?" Sally asked. "Uh, no," Mike answered. "Ask her to go out with you Saturday night. I have some extra tickets to a performance at the Kennedy Center," Sally said. "I'll think about it," Mike said wondering if there was some sort of conspiracy at work here. "There's nothing to think about. Just say yes," Sally said. "I'm supposed to go fishing with Sanjay and Tim," Mike said. Sally laughed and said, "I'm sure that Sanjay is not going to be able to go." "Huh?" Mike said rather surprised by her comment. He had talked to Sanjay and Tim the previous day about going fishing. They were both looking forward to another day on the river. "I've got to go now. I'll drop the tickets by your house this afternoon," Sally said just before hanging up. She didn't want to give him a chance to decline. Mike stared at the telephone handset. He had just put it down on the table when it rang again. Looking over at Kim, he said, "This is ridiculous. How am I supposed to eat breakfast?" "Answer the phone," Kim said smiling at him. Mike picked up the phone and, after pressing the talk button, said, "Hello." "Hello Mike. This is Sanjay. I have to tell you that I can't go fishing this weekend." Mike looked around convinced that there was a very large conspiracy at work. The only question that remained in his mind was who the conspirators were. He asked, "Did she use the voice?" "Yes. You understand perfectly," Sanjay answered trying to sound serious. "Maybe we can go the next weekend," Mike said. "I'll have to check with the boss," Sanjay said. One could feel that he was looking around to see if Teva was anywhere in the area. Mike managed to eat breakfast without any further interruptions by telephone calls. The eggs were limp and the toast was cold, but he managed to swallow it down. When he raised his cup of tepid coffee to get a refill, Kim Sung said, "Wait until you get to the office. I'm sure that Cathy will be very attentive to your needs." Frowning, Mike asked, "Are you jealous?" Kim laughed at the suggestion and said, "No. If she had a good time last night she's going to want to thank you. It will be a wasted effort if you don't appreciate what she's doing for you." "Oh," Mike said. Kim Sung said, "I am your housekeeper. It is my job to take care of you. I work to keep you happy and healthy. When Cathy comes to live here, I will take care of her. I take great pride in my work." ------- Historically, a basic characteristic of the American worker was their hard working nature, cleverness in approaching problems, and dedication to purpose. It was a legacy of the Puritan beginnings of the country where sloth was actually a crime. Years of political correctness had undermined that basic nature, but it wasn't dead. Free from the tyranny of political correctness that had kept them back, the American work ethic returned with a vengeance. Since many of the middle level managers had been foreign workers; their flight from the country had nearly crippled companies. Companies responded by reducing administration in favor of production. Productivity shot up to incredible levels as businesses reorganized to be leaner meaner machines. Incompetence again became a reason to fire someone regardless of the race, religion, or gender of the incompetent individual. Consensus based engineering, which had been used to mask ineffective contributors, was replaced by engineering processes in which roles and responsibilities were clearly identified with work allocated on a one task-one person basis. The size of development teams shrank yet the speed at which products were developed rose. The biggest beneficiary of this was the military-industrial complex. Much of the reason for that was that weapons development was no longer hindered by foreign agents blocking programs. Although it was unfair, foreign born employees were either let go or transitioned to unclassified projects. Everyone accepted a role in assuring security and didn't look the other way for even minor infractions. The net result was that new weapons and security systems were developed without the rest of the world knowing about them. America was at war and the old phrase about loose lips sinking battleships was ressurrected. The promise of nanotechnology was finally realized. One of the inventions was the miniature radio controlled sensor system that was the size and shape of a cockroach. It could explore an environment and radio the data back to a centralized control site. With its small size, it could infiltrate urban dwellings and follow targets through individual rooms. It was only one of many new sensors that had been developed. The field of artificial intelligence made a giant leap forward as well. An entirely new class of smart bomb, the Pigeon, was developed. They were called Pigeons because they could be launched in flocks that could number a thousand bombs and had a tendency to wheel about in the air like a flock of pigeons. The flock would make its way to the target area using GPS technology and terrain following algorithms. The flock would seek out targets and, through a negotiation process, one and only one bomb would attack a target with the rest searching for the next target. The bombs could be programmed to seek out vehicles, buildings, and even specific humans as targets. Cleaner manufacturing processes were developed although it was going to be years before large-sale factories were operational. Independence from imported goods had a very good chance of becoming a reality. This was significant because it looked like the United States was going to be at war with the world. ------- For the first half of the day, Mike put up with the winks and nods from everyone in the office. Cathy was a little more attentive than usual, but it wasn't over the top. She had been warned by Joe not to make a big deal out of her new relationship with Mike. Although it had already become habit, she made sure that his coffee was always filled. The only thing special that she did was to bring in blueberry muffins for a morning snack and even that wasn't too much out of the ordinary. Consistent with Kim's suggestion, Mike appreciated the Muffins after his rather poor breakfast. When Cathy finally left to make the lunch run, he turned to everyone and said, "As I'm sure that you've surmised, Cathy and I had a great time last night." Shirley said, "We know that. Are you going to ask her out again?" "Yes," Mike answered wondering how his social life had become the center of speculation. He looked around the room and said, "Now, let's get to work." "We want details," Charlie said turning around in his chair to face Mike. "You're not going to get them from me. Now get back to work," Mike said. This time they did as he asked. ------- The news that night had an interesting little report from a little town in Tennessee that would never have been aired except that it was an exceptionally slow news night. A reporter was on the front yard of a middle class house interviewing a middle aged woman along with her husband and two teenage children. The woman and her daughter were topless, but the broadcast image had the naughty bits pixilated out. Clearly ill at ease in interviewing a topless woman, the reporter said, "I understand that you were arrested earlier this week for going to the mall without wearing a top. Last night there was a vote at the city council meeting and the entire town has become clothing optional from the waist up." "I was detained, but not arrested," the woman corrected. She added, "When I explained to the police chief why I was not wearing a top, he released me and suggested that I bring the matter up at the city council meeting. I presented my case to the city council last night and they agreed with me that this was the perfect way for me to exercise my free speech rights. They passed a resolution making this a topless town." "What are you protesting by going topless?" The woman answered, "We aren't protesting; we're making a political statement." "How is baring your breasts to the world a political statement?" "Last week a suicide bomber struck at a mall that I was visiting. It got me to thinking about how those terrorist bastards want to take over this country. I remembered how Muhammad bin Laden declared war on American Women giving those terrorists orders to rape and kill us. If they are successful, they would force every woman in this country to convert to Islam and cover our bodies from head to toe. I don't want that. I am an American Woman and I can wear as much or as little as I want." "So you've removed your tops?" the reporter asked. The woman answered, "That's right. Wearing a t-shirt saying that I'm not afraid of them just isn't all that convincing. I watched a woman on television... she was a stripper in New York... she was going topless to show those terrorists that we're not afraid of them. I thought to myself, 'if she can do it, why can't I?' I'm going topless to let them know that I am not afraid of them. So are my neighbors." The camera panned around the neighborhood. Other families were standing around outside. All of the women were topless and watching the interview in progress. The reporter said, "It looks like your neighbors agree with you." "Every woman that I've talked with likes the idea of showing the terrorists that they haven't beaten us. They like the idea that we are insulting them in a very direct and obvious manner," the woman answered. Mike watched the news item wondering if it was a joke or a sign of things to come. Tennessee wasn't a hotbed of nudists, but there had been a lot of women baring their breasts in that broadcast. He wondered how many women believed the terrorists were waging war against women rather than against democracy. He was reminded of when a yellow ribbon first became an American institution back in the 1980s. Although there had been a few instances of using a yellow ribbon as a welcome home before then and a song about it, it hadn't become common until it was used to welcome back the hostages held in Iran. Since then, ribbons of all kinds had burst upon the American landscape. As far as he knew, no one really understood how that phenomenon had taken hold. ------- When President Anthony Archer had declared the borders of the United States closed, a number of countries hadn't quite believed that it applied to their citizens. No country thought that more than Mexico. From the perspective of Mexico, having its citizens earn money in the United States and send some of their wages back to Mexico was a significant contribution to the national economy. Although no one would say it, so was the drug trade. The President of Mexico recognized that having the American border closed to his country was going to have a major economic impact that could topple his government. Mexican citizens continued to cross the border in the dark of night thinking that they were taking the same risk of arrest and return to Mexico that had held in the past. The problem was that some terrorists were coming across the border with them. After months of trying to negotiate with the Mexican government to halt that practice from the other side of the border, President Anthony Archer got tired of it all. He moved the Army to the border and gave it shoot to kill orders. The first night of that new policy more than six hundred people were killed crossing the border. While the public reaction from Mexico was swift and very vocal, the political reaction was in the form of a very powerful economic threat. Mexico threatened to cut off oil exports to the United States. Although few people realized it, Mexico was the second largest provider of oil to the United States. Even fewer people realized that the weak actions taken in the past by the American government to slow the flow of undocumented workers across the border were a direct consequence of that dependency. President Archer called Mexico's bluff and the shoot to kill orders remained in effect. Fortunately for the United States, Mexico had no facilities for the delivery of oil to other major oil importing countries. President Archer recognized that the Mexican government wouldn't stand if the revenue from oil was lost even for a few months. Mexico backed down although citizens, desperate for work, continued to get killed in the dark of night. As the body count rose, Mexico's frustration increased. ------- Chapter 30 The invasion of the radical enclave in San Diego went like clockwork. The area was sectioned into individual blocks using one of the new systems that had been developed specifically for urban engagements. Lasers were set up so that they were aimed down the street to a sensor. When the beam of light was broken, a small smart bomb, called the Wasp, was launched at the item that broke the beam. Like the insect after which it was named, it would actually chase the target into a building if necessary. By configuring the lasers and Wasps appropriately, they could isolate each block from the surrounding blocks. A broad spectrum electromagnetic noise generator was used to kill the ability of the terrorists to communicate information. The full spectrum noise took out cell phones, satellite phones, and walkie- talkies. Landline telephone services were killed to the area. Electric service to the area was cut from the main switch. The terrorists were left having to shout to each other across the street. The Military went into the area dealing with one block at a time. They never allowed themselves to get caught in situations where they were subject to crossfire. They used the sensors that had been developed to locate armed individuals and then took them out using whatever means was necessary. The intelligence collected over the preceding months allowed them to destroy IEDs buried in the ground without putting the soldiers at risk. The soldiers were not in hurry and took their time. It took them three days to clear out twelve blocks. Mike stayed in the office throughout the entire engagement taking short naps during lulls in the fighting. The rest of the staff took shifts so that they could assess the tactics employed by the terrorists and provide data to the military. It was an exercise that provided some significant insights into the terrorists. They were not mindless killers. Instead, they approached the engagement like professional highly trained soldiers. At the beginning of the attack, a large number of individuals ran to prepared emplacements. In the process, they crossed streets in spite of the warnings that they would be specifically targeted. The Wasps could have devastated their forces, but the reaction time of the terrorists to the new form of attack was remarkably quick. They adjusted their positions and organized others to fill in the gaps of their defenses. The leadership appeared to be distributed throughout the area. Mike watched as key individuals took command without ever exposing themselves to external view. The terrorists had no idea that sensors had entered the buildings and were watching their actions. More often than not, when a building was taken those same individuals tried to surrender while pretending that they were innocent Muslims caught up in events beyond their control. It was a ruse that didn't work. Mike forwarded the intelligence data to the front line soldiers about who the leaders were. None of the leaders managed to slip out of the net. They were allowed to surrender, but were shipped off to detainment facilities for interrogation and trial by a military tribunal. Justice was swift and fatal. There were a few terrified individuals who did not participate in the defense, but hid in their apartments the entire time. Those individuals were detained in separate areas from the combatant prisoners and were told that they would be released once the area had been secured. Their apartments were searched and in a few cases incriminating information was found. Those who weren't quite as innocent as they had appeared were transferred to a third facility for trial by a military tribunal. The rest were returned to their homes once the fighting ended. It was in the middle of the third day of fighting when Mike said, "Their will has broken." The fighting on that particular block was still hot and furious. Jim was present at the time and asked, "Why do you say that?" "Look at how they are behaving. Up until now they've been running from one place to another. Now they're walking and dragging their feet. They aren't giving congratulatory looks to each other when one of them has accomplished something significant. It's the same way in the blocks where they are waiting," Mike answered studying the body language of the terrorists. Considering the amount of lead in the air, Jim said, "They're still fighting pretty viciously." "That's their training kicking in. They aren't driven by their passion, but just getting by based on their training. They've stopped adapting to the situation," Mike said. He watched one individual give a weak gesture to another that he was to go over to different area. The man walked off dragging his rifle butt on the ground. They hadn't even been attacked yet. "What do you make of this information?" Jim asked watching the screen. Now that Mike had pointed out what to look for, it was very obvious that the will of the terrorists had been broken. Mike was quiet for a moment and then said, "Let's turn the situation around. Suppose that our forces were divided and unable to support each other. We've watched one group after another fall to the enemy. At what point would our will be broken?" "They've been fighting constantly for two and a half days. They are cutoff and surrounded by a superior force. They do not have reinforcements coming and they know it. When you think about, I'd say that their continued resistance is pretty impressive," Jim answered. "Their will is broken; they know they are defeated and still they fight to the death. This is going to be a very long and bloody war," Mike said watching the screen. When the first news broadcast of the battle aired on the cable news service, he said, "Let's see what is happening in Los Angeles." Jim typed a few commands and the mini-drones they had circling over the radical enclave in Los Angeles came on the screen. Mike watched for a few minutes and then said, "They know what is going on and are getting ready to leave." "That wouldn't be good," Jim said. "Time to isolate them," Mike said picking up the telephone. He placed a call to the Los Angeles Office of Emergency Management and informed the DHS representative there about what they had observed happening. It took twenty minutes for the laser system to be set up. There was a mass rush to leave when the first announcement of the establishment of a death zone around the neighborhood was made, but the barrier was already active. "I was hoping to have a day off," Jim said looking a little depressed at the idea of having to keep up the grueling work load without break. Laughing, Mike said, "Don't worry. I've got a date tomorrow night and I intend to keep it." "Isn't setting up the barrier a signal that operations should begin soon?" Jim asked. "I'm going to recommend that we lock them in there for a week. Let's see how long they last before they get seriously depressed. Maybe we can have them surrender," Mike answered although he didn't believe that there was much of a chance of them ever surrendering. "They are testing the sewers," Jim said. "Double check the sensors down there," Mike said. Jim typed some commands and three dozen images appeared on the screen. A few men were in the sewer, but they weren't moving. He said, "The barriers in the sewers are functional." "Okay. I guess we'll have to monitor them until the large-scale operations are complete," Mike said. Shrugging his shoulders, Jim asked, "Why are we even bothering with this? We could take out each of those buildings with missiles and get them all in twenty minutes." Looking over at Jim, Mike considered his answer. Finally, he said, "I got the President to agree that we would spare loyal American citizens who are practicing Muslims and find themselves trapped in a war zone. They have a choice of hiding, joining the radicals, or doing their best to help us. So far none of them have chosen to help us, but one of these days that situation is going to change." ------- The government of Mexico was in dire straits from the border closure. Individuals who had entered the country illegally were being returned to Mexico as fast as they were caught. Americans, tired of foreigners who didn't respect American law, stopped hiring undocumented workers. The flow of money from America had turned into a trickle. The drug trade had come to a complete halt. Despite higher prices for oil, the Mexican treasury was getting pretty thread bare. In what had to be the greatest political blunder of all time, the President of Mexico decided to take advantage of the fact that American forces were busy in San Diego. He dispatched two hundred troops across the border of the United States with orders to provide a corridor of protection for Mexicans wanting to work inside the country. An alert that such an order had been given was forwarded to border forces by Homeland Security. The American reaction to a military force crossing its border was swift and fatal. Two Apache helicopters appeared from nowhere and killed the entire invading force of Mexican soldiers as well as the individuals they were guiding. The action lasted two minutes and wasn't even viewed as a significant engagement by the American forces on the scene. Despite having violated the American border, the President of Mexico was furious that his troops had been killed in such a casual fashion. He visited the Iranian Embassy and entered negotiations that would allow Iran to build a military base in Mexico. The conversation was recorded by one of the many cockroach sized sensors that roamed throughout the Iranian Embassy. Within hours, the status of Mexico was reclassified from non-cooperative to hostile. No one bothered to inform Mexico. ------- It was two thirty Saturday morning when Mike stumbled into the house walking like a zombie. He couldn't even recall the name of the Marine who had driven him home. He was dead tired and could barely focus his eyes. Three days of watching the battle in San Diego had taken its toll on him. Ten or twenty minute naps every three or four hours did not constitute a healthy lifestyle. Rather than taking the long walk to his bedroom, he collapsed in his comfort chair. Almost as soon as his bottom hit the seat, he was sound asleep. Having heard him enter the house, Kim came out of her room and looked at Mike. Shaking her head, she got a blanket and covered him. It was four thirty Saturday afternoon when Kim shook him awake. After handing him a cup of coffee, she said, "Drink the coffee and then get in the bathing pond out back. You have a date tonight and it is my job to get you ready for it." Feeling like he had cotton for brains, Mike took a sip of coffee and considered his options. He ran his hand over his chin feeling the ragged three day beard he had grown. His eyes felt like he had sand in them. He said, "Maybe I ought to cancel it." "No!" Kim said shaking her finger at him. "Okay. It was just an idea," Mike said waking up a little more. "It was a bad idea," Kim said. "I'll drink my coffee and get in the bathing pond. Can I at least stop by the bathroom on the way there?" Mike asked. His bladder was about to burst and he didn't think it would be a good idea to let go in the bathing pond. "Yes, go to bathroom and then to bathing pond. Take a quick shower while you are in the bathroom," Kim said rolling her eyes. As Mike relieved his bladder in the bathroom, he took stock of himself in the mirror. He looked as bad as he felt. There were bags under his eyes that another twelve hours of sleep might remove. His beard looked like the one that Yasir Arafat used to wear. He didn't think that it would be much fun trying to remove it. His mouth felt like it had fur growing in it. His body was stiff from sleeping in his chair. He didn't think that three hours was going to be enough time to get ready for a date. He slipped off his clothes and stepped under the shower to rinse off the sweat of three days. The hot water felt good. In fact, it almost felt too good and he didn't want to come out. He even shampooed his hair twice just to stay under the water a little longer. The knocking on the door let him know that he had overstayed his time in the bathroom. After drying off, he stepped out of the bathroom to find Kim waiting for him. She was shaking her head at the towel he wore around his waist. She pointed in the direction of the patio and he went there. After climbing into the pond, he leaned his head back against the rock and nearly fell asleep. Kim brought out a tray of sliced fruits and fed them to him. The chilled fruits seemed to wake up his mouth. The acidic fresh pineapple cut through the fur of his mouth. After thirty minutes in the bathing pond, Kim gestured for him to get out while holding up a big fluffy towel. She dried him off with vigorous strokes that seemed to energize his skin. She dried every inch of his body quite thoroughly. She then led him to the kitchen where she had a chair set in the middle of the room. He sat down wondering what was about to happen. Much to his surprise, Kim then proceeded to trim his hair; doing as good of a job as a professional barber. He thought when she put up the scissors that she was done, but the next thing he knew there was a hot towel over his face. Mike had never had another person shave him, but after experiencing it he decided that he really liked it. After the shave, Kim led him to the living room where the massage table was set up. She pointed to it and he climbed on. Kim began to work muscles that had been tense for too long. Mike woke feeling Kim's hand wrapped around his cock and feather light touches on his balls. A few seconds later he was ejaculating over his stomach. Kim cleaned up the ejaculate with a warm cloth. Looking down at him, Kim was pleased with the results of her efforts. He actually was beginning to look presentable. Since getting Mike out of the bathroom, the two of them had not exchanged a single word. She had pointed and he had done. Stepping back, she said, "You shower and brush your teeth now. I have set out your clothes for your date. She will be here in forty minutes." "She's picking me up?" Mike asked confused. "Soldier bring you home last night. Your car is not here," Kim said as if that explained everything. Mike had to wonder how Kim knew to come pick him up. He hadn't called her and as far as he knew she hadn't called the house. Shaking his head, he knew better than to question it any further. He went to follow her instructions. Everything went well until he reached the bedroom. Looking at the clothes, he called out, "These aren't appropriate for the Kennedy Center." "You are not going there. You are too tired," Kim said from the door. "I don't think Sally will approve of this change in plans," Mike said with a grin at the idea that the conspiracy was running into problems. "Both of your mothers approve," Kim said stating it in a very factual manner. She pointed to the clothes and said, "Get dressed. She'll be here soon." Mike did as commanded. He knew better than to fight it when women took charge of his life. Once he was dressed, Kim said, "Go have a seat in the patio. I will bring Cathy to you when she arrives." "Would you mind telling me where I'm taking her on this date?" Mike asked deciding that he should at least know that little piece of information. He also decided it was better to be amused by the situation than offended. "You stay here with her. You will entertain young lady on patio with talk and drinks while I prepare lovely dinner. After dinner, you watch a movie together," Kim answered. Mike stepped out of the bedroom and looked around. Despite all of the activity of the past three hours, the house was immaculate. The massage table was gone from the center of the living room. He glanced in the bathroom to find that it was straightened up as well. He wondered when Kim had found the time to do all of that. He went out to the patio and made his way to the table in the corner. The lights were low and there was soft music piped into the room. A plate of sliced cheese and apples was placed in the center of the table. A bottle of wine was chilling in a glass wine ice bucket. He stood there looking at the preparations and said, "Wow. She really went all out for this date." Ten minutes passed before Kim led Cathy into the patio. Kim had an arm around Cathy and gently guided her to the corner of the room. It was obvious that Cathy was well aware of the changes in date plans. She was wearing a simple sun dress that looked very nice on her, but wouldn't have been appropriate for a performance at the Kennedy Center. Mike rose from his chair and said, "Hello Cathy." "Hello Mike," she replied feeling a little nervous about having a second date with a man in his house. It wasn't that she didn't trust Mike; it was just a little awkward particularly with Kim there. Kim guided Cathy into her seat and then said, "You two can make love talk now. I am old woman. You will not say anything I haven't heard a thousand times before." With that little pronouncement out of the way, Kim left the patio. Cathy was laughing at the look on Mike's face. When she finally regained control, she said, "You are looking a lot better than you did this time last night." Mike said, "You look lovely." Neither Cathy nor Kim was surprised that the evening ended with Mike falling asleep on the couch in the middle of the movie. Cathy was surprised when Kim invited her into the kitchen for an hour long talk. While Mike slept unaware of his surroundings; Kim was busy providing Cathy with details on the care and feeding of Mike. A subtle, but strong, bond forged on a common goal formed between the pair of women. ------- With the gardener taking care of the lawn, Mike didn't have to mow the grass. In fact, he had pretty much ignored the yard. After Cathy had complimented him on the appearance of his yard the previous evening, he decided that it was about time for him to take a moment and inspect the grounds of his house. The first thing that caught his eye was the profusion of plants that bordered the front of the house. The flowerbeds, filled with blooming flowers, were laid out very neatly. There wasn't a weed to be seen. Sun Yung had laid out rock borders and the grass was neatly trimmed where the lawn met the rocks. The grass itself was luxurious and looked like the fairway of a well kept golf course. There wasn't a weed to be seen in the entire yard. Seeing Mike walking around, Bob decided to come over and say hello. It had been a while since the dinner party thrown by Kim and his wife wanted to return the favor. As he approached, he said, "Your yard is now the best one on the street. I don't know how that little oriental fellow you have working for you managed it." "I was just thinking the same thing," Mike said turning to face Bob. "You know, he's out here for two hours a week. In those two hours, he mows, weeds, edges, and trims the bushes. I don't know how he does it. It takes me that long just to mow my lawn," Bob said. "Have you seen the backyard?" Mike asked. "No," Bob answered. There was a six foot high privacy fence around Mike's backyard that Sun Yung had put in while working on the patio. "Come on, I'll show it to you," Mike said. The two men walked around the small paths that Sun Yung had created through the backyard. There were broad patches of ground cover that surrounded intricate little flower beds. Each flower bed had a theme. One was filled with roses, another with vegetables while others were filled with flowers. Very large rocks, practically boulders, were strewn in places to give a contrast to the green. In a very private corner of the garden was a swinging chair under a wooden cover that invited one to sit out of the sun. Mike was pretty much in awe of what Sun Yung had done with his yard. Much to Mike's surprise, it was Bob who kept noticing and pointing out interesting features. There was a sundial that was almost hidden from view. Running through one section of the garden was a small stream. It appeared from under a rock and ended in a small pond filled with water plants. After their tour, Bob scratched his head and asked, "How did he ever get so much in such a small area?" "I don't know," Mike answered truly amazed that the garden had actually improved since the last time he had walked through it. "If he's available, I'll hire him in a minute to do my lawn. This is incredible," Bob said truly impressed by what he had seen. "Wait until you see the patio," Mike said leading the way to the screen doors. Inside, Bob stared at the pond with obvious envy. Looking over at Mike, he asked, "Can you get in it?" "Yes, it is a bathing pond. It can hold four," Mike said. "That is really nice," Bob said. It was about that time when Mike realized that Bob had always been there for him. He had taken care of the lawn while Mike had been in the hospital after Karen and Robert had died. He had stood guard raking invisible leaves to warn him when it looked like there was a threat to his life. Looking over at Bob, Mike said, "I'm going fishing next Saturday. Why don't you and Ellen try it out while I'm gone?" The offer was too tempting to refuse. Bob said, "I'll talk to Ellen about it." Bob left having forgotten the original reason he had gone over to talk to Mike. When he was gone, Mike went into the house and found Kim. He said, "Kim, I invited Bob and his wife to use the bathing pond next Saturday while I'm fishing. I hope that won't be an imposition." Kim frowned at the invasion of privacy that his invitation represented and asked, "Why did you do that?" "Bob has always gone the little extra distance for me when things were bad. I thought that he and his wife would enjoy a little private time in the patio," Mike answered. Nodding her head, Kim thought about all of the little things that Bob had done for Mike. Even she had used them in an attempt to break Mike out of his anti-social spell. Mike was right in thinking that he owed them a special treat. She said, "Don't worry. I make it perfect day for them." "You don't need to do anything except give them a little privacy. You might want to spend the day with Teva and the kids," Mike said. "They have been good to you. I make everything perfect for them," Kim said. Her mind was already busy planning out the day for the couple next door. ------- Chapter 31 The situation board showed the results of their efforts to clear out terrorists from the country. There was one large patch of green in Los Angeles, but it was isolated with a death zone surrounding it. There were a lot of little green patches left, but they were far apart and surrounded by the watchful eyes of Americans who didn't trust them. The support network was gone. Mike looked at the board and said, "It looks to me like we've about worked ourselves out of a job." Shirley looked up at the board and said, "I'd say you're right, but we're going to have individual radicals crop up from time to time." "I fear that you're right," Mike said with a sigh. A line that shouldn't have been crossed had been crossed. Jim shook his head and, while his fingers operated the keyboard in front of him, said, "Let me show you something interesting." Little orange dots appeared on the situation board. All of them were in the small islands of Muslims. Curious, Mike asked, "What are the orange dots?" Jim said, "Those are locations where non-Muslims have foiled attempts by calling law enforcement with their suspicions." "Oh," Mike said. Jim worked on the keyboard for another second and thousands of little red dots appeared on the screen. Smiling, he said, "Those red dots show where plots were foiled as a result of Muslims turning in radical elements of their neighborhoods." There were far more red dots than orange dots. Mike sat back and studied the board. He asked, "What do you make of that?" "I'd say that the moderate Muslims have gotten tired of Jihad. They are now working with us to end it," Jim said with a smile. After his conversation with Mike about the hope that moderate Muslims would turn against the radical elements of their communities, he had spent a lot of time seeing if there was any chance of that hope ever becoming a reality. He had been pleasantly surprised by what he had learned. Cathy delivered a cup of coffee to Mike with a very nice smile. As she set the cup down, she said, "Here's your coffee, Mike. It is just like you like it." "Thank you, Cathy," Mike answered giving her a smile. Everyone in the room chuckled at the formality that existed between the pair and then turned to look innocently at their computers when Mike looked around. Mike took a sip of his coffee and turned back to look at the situation board. He had ten minutes to kill before it was time for the weekly teleconference with all of the sites that worked for him. Shaking his head, he asked, "What are we going to do when the situation in Los Angeles is finished?" "I don't know. It sure is going to be boring around here," Shirley said. After the San Diego battle, things had been real quiet in the office. Mike had six sites that had been monitoring radical Muslims within the states. Communications between individual enclaves had come to a halt. The chatter among supporting Muslims had dropped to nothing. Mike's teams were now sitting around watching monitors that showed nothing happening. The occasional flashes of activity along the border were routinely investigated by locals. America had turned xenophobic and that made it virtually impossible for foreigners to spy. He said, "I guess we just might be able to take a few days of vacation." "That would be great," Jim said. The only time off he had taken since the rail gun attacks had been a medical leave after the Jersey City fiasco. Everyone there had been ordered at one time or another to take a week of medical leave by the psychologists so he didn't feel too embarrassed about that. Mike penciled in a note on the agenda for the conference call to discuss vacations. He'd have to clear it with his boss, but he was pretty sure that it wouldn't be a problem. He glanced over at Cathy and wondered if he should ask her to schedule her vacation to coincide with his. He shook his head thinking that asking her to do that was moving too fast. ------- Sanjay reeled in another bass. It was his third of this particular fishing expedition. Tim scooped the fish up in the net and brought it into the boat. As he lifted it out of the net, he said, "That's a real beauty. I think it is the biggest one of the day." Mike looked over at the fish. It was a beauty weighing in at around five pounds. Grinning, he said, "That's nothing. Earlier this year I caught a beautiful five inch bass. You should have seen it." "We did," Tim said. "So you know what I mean," Mike said in a deadpan voice. His comment sparked the appropriate laughs. Mike asked, "So what's the score?" "Sanjay three, Tim one, and Mike zero," Tim answered while Sanjay waved his fists in the air saying, "And the crowd goes wild for Sanjay." Mike reached down and popped the top on a can of beer watching Tim take care of the fish. Sanjay, his leg still in a cast, looked over his fish with a pleased smile on his face. Once Tim had deposited the fish in the live well, Mike asked, "Who is ready for a beer?" When both of them answered in the affirmative, he tossed a beer each to them. There were the dual sounds of cans of cold beer being opened. After a sip of his beer, Sanjay said, "This is the life. The wind is gentle, the water is tranquil, the beer is cold, and the fish are hungry. You can't ask for a better day for fishing." "You can say that again," Tim said. Mike took a sip of his beer and said, "Well, it is going to be a couple of weeks before I'll be able to go fishing again." "Taking a vacation?" Tim asked. He had heard that Mike had told all of the people working for him to take two weeks off over the next six weeks. A third of his people were going to be out of the office at a time. "That's right," Mike said setting his beer down. "Where are you going?" Tim asked. "I was thinking about going to the Adirondacks," Mike answered. "Are you taking Cathy with you?" Sanjay asked. He knew that if he didn't come home with that information that Teva would kill him. "I don't know. I'm not sure about that kind of stuff," Mike answered. Looking over at Mike with a smile, Tim asked, "What's there to know?" "Well, we've only had three dates. Don't you think that taking a two week vacation together after three dates is kind of rushing it?" Mike asked. He had taken Cathy out the night before to a nice dinner and a movie. He wasn't even sure if he was supposed to take Kim Sung along. She deserved a vacation as well. "I suppose," Sanjay said. He cast his line and then added, "Of course, don't tell Teva that I said that. She'll kill me." Tim laughed before thinking about Mike's problem. Being an old married man, he didn't know that much about the dating scene. He said, "I suppose it is a little early in the relationship to go on a two week trip with a woman." Mike cast his line. Almost as soon as it hit the water, he had a strike. He reeled the fish to the boat. Tim grabbed the net and went to scoop it out of the water. Mike lifted the little fish out of the water and said, "I caught that little fellow again. I think he grew a half an inch since our last trip out here." Laughing, Tim took the hook out of the fish's mouth. He held the fish up for everyone to admire. He said, "Another beauty." Sanjay was laughing at the little fish. Mike just shook his head and said, "Throw it back. At this rate, it'll be a keeper about twenty fishing trips from now." Tim released the fish back into the river. As it swam off, he said, "Grow little fellow, grow." Mike sat back and said, "Why don't you fish for a while Tim? I'll just sit here and enjoy the sun." "Thank you, sir. I think I will," Tim said picking up his rod. "Sanjay, should I take Kim Sung with me on my vacation?" Mike asked. "No. Just give her the time off," Sanjay answered. He knew from experience that if Mike took her along that she would continue to take care of him. He and Teva had made that mistake once. Kim had stayed in the hotel room the entire time taking care of their clothes and keeping the room neat and clean. ------- Mike was scheduled to go on his vacation three days after the Los Angeles sweep had taken place. This would allow him to watch the event and prepare the after action briefing. The Los Angeles action was a repeat of what had happened in San Diego. There was massive fighting as the terrorists resisted. American forces took the area one block at a time. Mike watched the entire thing, taking short naps when the forces finished one block and prepared to enter the next one. Watching the action, Mike was once again impressed by the discipline and quality of training the terrorists exhibited. Everyone who had watched the action were teleconferenced together to come up with the after action assessment. Mike led off the discussion when he said, "Los Angeles was the last large urban enclave of radical Islamists. Although we may not have to face that again in this country, I'm pretty sure that we'll have to do this overseas at some point in time. I think we should leave a report that helps future operations of this kind. I know that we all observed different things. Did anyone notice anything really exceptional or unusual?" For a long moment no one said anything and Mike was about to go on when one of the analysts from another site said, "There is one little thing that caught my attention. The weapons were basically stored in the homes of people who didn't fight. Before the battle started, some middle ranking person ran there and distributed the weapons to the lower ranks. It seems to me that if we can identify the places and hit them at the right time, we'd take out a lot of them." Listening to the description of what happened, Mike said, "Let's go back to the San Diego raid for a moment. Is it possible that some of the people who we observed not fighting had stored weapons in their homes?" "I suppose that's possible," Shirley said frowning. The layouts of the two areas were very different. One was track houses while the other was apartments. Shaking her head, she said, "We were watching them pretty closely." One of the men said, "That's what Hezbollah does in Lebanon. They pay people to store weapons in their houses. When the terrorists need something, they go over and get it." Mike asked, "Do we have any sensors that can track down weapon stores?" "No. Finding caches of weapons is a real bitch," someone else answered. Someone else said, "Almost as soon as they realized they were isolated, they started trying to tunnel out. In fact, most of the houses had partial tunnels already in place." Mike knew about that, but asked, "Did they complete any tunnels?" "Yes, but our troops were waiting for them when they came out," Jim answered. Mike had not been aware of that. Looking at the screens, Mike asked, "I've got one question and it is a big one. Who escaped?" One of the analysts at a remote site pulled up a file and sent it to the display. She said, "Here's the list of people who are unaccounted for. The ones with stars beside their names were individuals we were sure wouldn't be there. They had jobs that would have them out of the area when it was isolated. The others were probably caught outside the death zone." The list held two hundred and seventy names. Mike took a moment to remember the woman's name. He asked, "What kind of damage can they do, Linda?" "Lots," Linda answered, "The third man on that list is a planner and a couple more are highly trained commandos. We need to find them as soon as possible." "And you thought you were going to be bored," Mike said with a chuckle. Everyone on the conference call rolled their eyes. He let the reaction to his comment pass and then said, "That brings us to what we'll be doing for the next little while. We've got a list of known terrorists who are free. We need to find them all before they have a chance to do anything." "They could be anywhere," Linda said with a frown. Chuck Adams asked, "Do we have any intelligence about safe houses?" Mike shook his head and answered, "Not really. We've closed down the support network that allowed them to move freely around the country. The technical types are still going through the computers to extract what information they can from them. Until then, I suggest that we look at some of the Chinese strongholds. The last attack on us was a mixture of Chinese and Arab." "I don't know anything about the Chinese communities here in America," Chuck said. "I'll try to get a political analyst who specializes in that area to come here and talk to everyone. It is my understanding that the political situation in China is pretty bad and OPEC has it over a barrel," Mike said. He had meant to say that OPEC had China by the short hairs, but realized that some of the people on the call might not have appreciated it. There were groans over the unintentional pun. Shaking his head, Jim said, "It all comes down to oil." ------- Mike's father and mother stopped by the house to see him before he left on his vacation. After greeting them at the door, Mike led them to the living room and invited them to have seats. Kim followed them in the room and asked, "May I get you anything?" "No thank you. We won't be here long," Robert answered with a smile. "I'm fine. Thank you, Kim," Louise answered. Initially, she hadn't approved of her son having a live-in housekeeper, but with time she had come to appreciate what Kim did for him. She relied upon Kim to keep her informed of how her son was doing. When Kim had left, Mike looked at his father and asked, "What brings you out here?" "I'm getting shipped overseas. My orders came through yesterday afternoon," Robert answered. "Where are you going?" Mike asked. "My men will be on a ship in the Pacific. It looks like we're going to be doing a little island hopping," Robert answered. "That doesn't sound good," Mike said thinking about the experiences of World War II. He didn't know much about what was happening in that part of the world, but he could bet that they had dug in and would resist with the same level of fanaticism as the Japanese. "Well, we're trying something new. The guys in the labs have come up with what they call proxy-soldiers. We'll be in the ships and these robots will go ashore," Robert answered. He didn't like the idea of fighting by proxy, but he did like the idea of being able to retire one day. Considering the tactics used by the terrorists, he'd use whatever advantage he could find. "Is that like the smart bomb?" Mike asked. "No. It is a robot that we control. We get into these suits and it is just like being there. The experience is so real that you forget that you're back in a special facility," Robert said. He'd been killed in one of the suits during a training exercise and it had really done a number on his head. The sudden transition from a hundred miles away back to where his body was located had made him ill. He hoped that it didn't happen again, but he had a feeling that before this war was over that he'd be used to it. Louise said, "We didn't come here to talk about the war." "You're right, dear," Robert said winking at Mike. Louise ignored Robert's behavior. Knowing the answer to her question, she asked, "Are you taking Cathy with you on your vacation?" Mike chuckled at the interest in his love life. He decided to have a little fun with it and answered, "Cathy? Who is Cathy?" "The girl you are dating," Louise said rolling her eyes. This wasn't going to be easy and she knew it. "Oh, her," Mike said. Plastering a puzzled expression on his face, he asked, "So, how do you know Cathy?" Louise looked at Mike and wondered if she could bluff her way out of having to explain. The expression on his face let her know that she didn't stand a chance. She would have to steer the conversation to what she wanted to discuss. She answered, "So are you taking her with you?" "No," Mike answered. "Why not?" After giving a little gesture that could have meant anything, he answered, "You know." "No, I don't know," Louise replied feeling more than a little frustrated. Apparently the people involved in the plot to fix him up with Cathy did not include those few with whom he had discussed the propriety of taking her with him. A grin flashed across his face at the thought that Sanjay hadn't told Teva his reasons. The poor guy must have stood up to a major grilling. Getting a little more serious, he said, "I thought it would be too forward to ask a young lady on a two week vacation after we've only had three dates." Robert nodded his head in agreement, but Louise asked, "What if she is hoping that you'll ask her?" "Uh, I don't know," Mike answered. He hadn't considered that possibility. "Men," Louise said shaking her head. Winking at Mike, Robert mouthed, "Women." "Stop that, Robert," she said knowing what he had done even though he hadn't said a word and she hadn't been looking at him. "Yes, ma'am," Robert said giving her a salute. He agreed with Mike on the reason for not asking the girl to go with him. It was an awful big commitment to make after three dates. Mike chuckled at the exchange. It did make him wonder how Cathy would feel if she had been expecting him to ask her to come with him. He was leaving in two days and could probably arrange for an extra room even at that late date. He asked, "So you think I should ask her?" Louise answered, "It's too late now for you to ask her." "Why?" "Because you don't ask a girl to go on a trip with you at the last minute. She has to have enough time to go shopping," Louise answered. The tone of voice suggested that she was talking to a simpleton. "Why would she need to go shopping?" Mike asked. As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he knew it was a stupid question. "She has to buy the appropriate clothes to take with her," Louise answered wondering how Mike had managed to be married to Karen for so long and not learn anything. Standing up, she said, "Why don't you talk to your father for a bit? I'm going to talk to Kim for a minute." Mike and Robert watched Louise head out of the living room. Robert shook his head and, once she was out of earshot, said, "I would have loved to have her plan a few of our missions. That woman can be exceptionally single-minded when she wants something." "I know," Mike said. He was pretty sure that his mother, Sally, and Teva were already planning the wedding. Maybe asking Cathy to go with him after three dates wasn't rushing her, but he felt like it was moving at the speed of light. He said, "I'm pretty sure she's already got me married to Cathy." "You might not win this one, but you can prolong the war," Robert said with a grin. There was no way that he was going to interfere in this little project undertaken by his wife. That was a good way to spend the rest of the nights between now and getting shipped out on the couch. "So tell me about this proxy-soldier thing," Mike said wanting to change the subject. "We wear this special suit and helmet that allows us to see and hear the environment where the robot is located. It is based on the old Waldo concept of a mechanical arm and it moves like we move. There's about a twentieth of a second delay between making a movement and the robot repeating it, but you get kind of used to it," Robert said. A twentieth of a second might seem like a short time, but a lot could happen during it. More often then not the robot fell over when it got off balance. He imagined that it wasn't going to work as well as the engineers thought, but it would be worth the attempt to try it. "So how does that work? Do you walk around in a room or something?" Mike asked unable to imagine how the system could possibly work. He could see advantages of robotics controlled using body movements over the old Talon robots that were controlled by joysticks. "No, we're suspended in the air like a puppet," Robert answered. He chuckled and said, "Watching the soldiers practice with the proxy-soldier is a lot like watching a puppet show." "Sort of like watching Mom dealing with you," Mike said with a wink. "Exactly." ------- Chapter 32 Mike settled into the Adirondack chair thinking that it had to be the most uncomfortable chair ever invented. He had thought that his first day there at the lodge by the lake. A week of sitting in that particular chair had convinced him that his initial assessment had been perfect. He expected that at the end of his second week of sitting in that chair that his opinion wouldn't have changed. Yawning, he tried to wake up. He looked across the calm waters of the lake and listened to the haunting calls of the loons. Various species of birds raised their voices in greeting the morning. This time of day was particularly peaceful. It was too early for the sound of cars rushing along the road to spoil the natural sounds of nature. Most of the guests at the lodge were still asleep. Even the owner did his best not to make too much noise in the morning. Looking back at the lodge, he knew it would be a few minutes before breakfast was served. He wasn't in a rush to get to breakfast, although he was looking forward to having a bit of coffee. He wouldn't get up until he had planned his day. After all, getting breakfast would have to fit in with his plans. Thinking it over, he decided that he would start the day with breakfast. After breakfast, he'd return to the chair and relax. At lunch time, he'd go get a bite to eat. After lunch, he'd return to the chair and relax. When it got too hot, he'd go back to his room and change into his bathing suit before taking a swim in the chilly waters of the lake. After his swim, he'd return to the chair and relax. Then he'd change clothes and have dinner before returning to the chair. Before going to bed, he'd stop in the lodge and have hot tea and some cookies. Satisfied with his plans, he said, "Sounds like a perfect day to me." He heard the owner of the lodge open the door to the dining hall. Knowing that breakfast was being served, he saw no possible reason to delay following his plans for the day. Getting out of the chair, he made his way over rear entrance to the lodge. He would have whistled as he walked, but the quiet of the morning made that seem sacrilegious. ------- So far the day had been working out exactly to plan. The afternoon was beginning to heat up and it wouldn't be long before it was time to take a swim. If it hadn't been too much work, he would have stretched. He did manage to work up enough energy to yawn. "You look comfortable." Mike jumped and turned to look at the source of the voice. Unable to believe his eyes, he said, "Cathy! What are you doing here?" Cathy understood the surprise in Mike's voice; she had been just as surprised to find him there. She went over to the chair next to him and took a seat. Deciding that a little explanation was appropriate, she answered, "Joe recommended that I come here for my vacation. I guess he told you the same thing. I couldn't afford a full two weeks so I thought I'd come out here for the last week of week of my vacation time." Mike smiled at the idea of Joe sending her to exactly the same place he was going for a vacation. Rather than tell her that he had told Joe where he was going rather than vice versa, he said, "Well, I'm glad you came out here." "Thanks," she said. She wiggled in the chair trying to get comfortable and said, "This isn't very comfortable." "I know. I've thought that every time I've sat down, but I'm feeling too lazy to do anything about it," Mike answered. The wiggle she had given made him consider moving up his scheduled plunge in the chilly water of the lake. "So have you seen any of the sights around here?" Cathy asked. Gesturing to the lake and the surrounding areas, Mike answered, "I've been sitting here ever since I arrived. I've done nothing except admire the view." "Ah, a lazy man's holiday," Cathy said with a smile. She had similar plans for her week there. Nodding his head, Mike said, "What are your plans?" "I plan on getting some sun and reading a book for the next six days," Cathy answered with a smile. "You're more ambitious than me," Mike said with a smile. "Why do you say that?" "You're planning on reading. I haven't even worked up the energy to include that in my plans," Mike answered. "You have plans?" Cathy asked wondering if she could get included in them. "You bet. This morning, I sat in this very chair and laid out my plan for the entire day. It is a glorious plan that involves sitting here all day taking breaks for meals and an afternoon swim," Mike answered. "That is a glorious plan," Cathy said with a laugh. She looked out at the grassy area in front of the lake and said, "I think it is about time that I put my plan into place." "Be my guest," Mike said. The best laid plans of mice and men often have unexpected consequences. Mike discovered that was true of the plans made by women as well. Fifteen minutes after Cathy had announced her plans for the afternoon, she returned wearing a bathing suit and carrying a towel, a book, and a bottle of sun block. The bathing suit didn't leave much to the imagination. Open mouthed, he sat in his chair watching her as she placed a towel on the ground to lie upon. When she was satisfied with the placement of the towel, she settled down and reached for her bottle of sun block. To Mike, it seemed as if she moved in slow motion. His entire attention turned to the bottle and the opportunity that it represented. Cathy looked over her shoulder and asked, "Would you mind putting this on my back?" "No," Mike answered his voice cracking on the word. ------- One of the most stressful things for a new couple to do is to take a vacation together. Mismatches in vacation styles can strain a developing relationship more than a morning person hooking up with a night person. More than one relationship has broken up because of a horrible weekend together out of town. The problem is that there are all kinds of vacation styles, but there are two broad categories that differ in terms of whether the expectations are active and passive. Active vacationers are often called tourists and are easily spotted in a vacation spot. There are the ambitious tourists who go to an area and schedule things so that they can see and do everything the area has to offer. There are spontaneous tourists who go to an area with no plans and wander around as the wind blows. There are dedicated travelers who are moving continuously from one place to the next. To an active vacationer, a vacation is a chance to move, to do, and to see. Passive vacationers are a much different breed than active vacationers. There are the gluttony vacationers who do nothing except eat, sleep, and have sex. There are the lazy vacationers who go to an area and just watch the world go by. To a passive vacationer, a vacation is a chance to rest, relax, and recover. Passive vacationers really hate to travel with active vacationers. Mike and Cathy were both lazy vacationers. They were more than happy doing absolutely nothing. Neither saw anything odd in doing nothing together. Mike did change his daily plans a little. He started basking in the sun on a towel rather than sitting in his chair. She read and he thought about his life. At times they swapped activities, he read and she thought about her life. That is not to say that they were entirely relaxed. The sexual tension was slowly building to an explosive level. There were quick little glances at the other. There were the long slow applications of sun block. There were quiet little conversations that drew them ever closer to each other. The frequent little trips to the lake to cool off didn't help reduce the tension as they each intended. After each trip, there was the application of sun block that only heated things up to a higher level. It took almost four days before the explosive release of sexual tension occurred. They had finished dinner and, feeling a little tense, decided that they would go for a walk. They held hands and walked along the path by the lake. It was a little before the sun set when they reached a little bench. Sitting down, they turned to each other and looked into each other's eyes. For the space of five seconds it was as if time stopped. They kissed and all restraint was lost. They ended up on the ground making love under the open sky. The first coupling was hard and frantic. The second was slow and languid. The fading light of twilight gave it a supernatural feel. It was very late when they finally stumbled back to the lodge. Parting at the doors of the lodge was almost impossible. The next day they moved into a single room. Maybe the universe was conspiring to make them a couple, but just because it was a conspiracy didn't mean that it was evil. Mike and Cathy were both satisfied by the results as would be a number of conspirators. ------- Upon arriving at home, Mike wasn't surprised to get a call from his mother. When he answered the phone, she asked, "So how was the vacation?" "It was okay," Mike answered. There was a long pause before she asked, "So did you meet anyone there?" "If you mean meet as in get introduced to someone new, then I guess not," Mike answered with a smile. He had a feeling that his mother had something to do with Cathy's arrival at the lodge. He was also pretty sure that Cathy hadn't known a thing about it. "Did anything interesting happen there?" Louise asked after another long pause. "Interesting? I wouldn't describe it that way," Mike answered. He'd call it spectacular, exciting, or exhilarating, but not interesting. He could hear his mother getting more frustrated by the minute. Giving up all pretense of subtlety, Louise asked, "Did Cathy show up there?" "Was she supposed to?" he asked back. "Yes," Louise answered. "Then I guess you'll be pleased to know that she did show up," Mike said. Getting excited, Louise said, "Tell me about it." "I'll let her tell you about it," Mike replied. He figured that his mother, Sally, or Teva would be talking to Cathy sometime in the near future. "You'll bring her here so that I can meet her?" Louise asked. "I thought you knew her," Mike answered. Surprised at the suggestion that she knew Cathy, Louise said, "I don't know her. I've never met her." "So how do you know about her? How did you know that she was going to be at the lodge?" Mike asked. "Oh, Gunny told me about her. I suggested that he send her out to where you were vacationing," Louise answered knowing that Mike would discover everything sooner or later. "Gunny? Master Gunnery Sergeant Joe Dinkins?" Mike asked. Dim memories from twenty five years ago of a much younger Joe started resurfacing. "Yes. Your father and Gunny go back ages," Louise answered. "I didn't know that," Mike said. ------- Upon stepping into the office that had once been an Internet Café, Mike knew that his vacation was over. The first thing that he noticed was everyone sitting stiffly at their workstations. The second thing that he noticed that the current Director of the Department of Homeland Security, James Wentworth the Third, was seated at his workstation. The man was looking over the situation board at the front of the room thoughtfully rubbing his chin. Mike walked over to the Director. As he approached, he said, "Hello, Director." The man swiveled in his chair to face Mike. Smiling, he said, "I see you're back from your vacation. I hope you had a good time." "Yes, sir," Mike answered wondering what had happened while he was gone. There was nothing worse than walking into a situation completely unprepared. A glance at the situation board didn't suggest anything too spectacular was happening. At least it didn't look like anything was happening that his people couldn't handle. "Let's go in the conference room and chat for a little while," the Director said in a friendly voice. "Yes, sir," Mike said. He followed the Director to the conference room rather surprised that the man knew his way around the place. The conference room had once been Joe's office when the place had still been an Internet Café. The conversion of the place of business to an intelligence office had not really changed the place all that much. It still configured like an Internet Cafe. Inside the conference room, the Director gestured to a chair at the conference table and said, "Sit down, Mike." Mike took a seat and asked, "What's the matter?" "There's nothing the matter," the Director answered. He settled into a chair and then said, "I came here to talk to you about the future. Your team did a real good job in supporting the attacks on the domestic terrorist enclaves. As a result of the intelligence you helped collect and assess, the terrorist network has been effectively eliminated. We're still rounding up a few of them here and there, but the hard work has been done thanks to you." "Thank you, sir. I have a great team of people," Mike said. "You have one of the best teams of people in Homeland Security that is associated with counter-terrorism. I think that is rather remarkable. At one time, three quarters of your people came from rather dysfunctional teams," the Director said. He had read the reports documenting the transition of some of the teams from being totally non-functional to highly productive. He felt that Mike's leadership had played a huge role in it. Shrugging his shoulders, Mike said, "Well, things were a little rough there for a while. I didn't think that we were going to survive the former President." "One of the greatest mistakes of my life was supporting him when he ran for office. I didn't realize just how he would roll over like that," the Director said with a sad shake of his head. As a retired military officer he hadn't liked the half-assed support the troops were getting. It had made winning the war impossible. He felt that it was better to leave Iraq than continue on to the point where Americans turned against the military like it had during the Vietnam War. Mike didn't know what to say. He said, "A lot of people feel that way now." Shaking himself, the Director said, "As you know, the President has a three phase plan for eliminating terrorism. We've basically completed the first phase and we're now in the phase where we are taking the war against terrorism overseas. We want you to lead the groups that will be providing intelligence assessments to the military operating in the Asian Pacific region of the world." "Oh," Mike said thinking about the responsibility that he would have. He looked down at his twisted left hand and thought about the young men who would be sacrificing their bodies and lives in the upcoming battles. This was a chance to help save them. The Director smiled and said, "I'm sure that was the last thing you expected to hear coming back from your vacation." "You can say that again," Mike said. "You'll be overseeing nine teams of specialists," the Director said. "Nine teams?" Mike said shaking his head. He was overseeing five teams at the present and was only spending half of his time at this particular office. He tried to spend half a day a week at each of the other offices. He said, "I'll be spending all of my time driving from one location to another." "I don't think that will be a problem for very long." Mike asked, "Why?" The Director said, "About a year ago it was suggested that we move our intelligence services out of the Washington area. I fought that for a long time, but the attack on our analysts forced me to reconsider my position on the matter. We're in the process of setting up six major analysis centers. The Asian Pacific Intelligence Center will be in the northeastern part of Texas." Mike nodded his head thinking that Washington could move slower than molasses in winter. If the enemy had tried a second round of attacks, they would all be dead before they moved to more secure locations. He asked, "When will we be moving?" "They'll finish construction on the facilities in about nine months," the Director answered. "Nine months," Mike said thinking about what could happen in nine months. "Until then, you'll be working to transition your teams from domestic to international support. You'll have to train your people how to work with the military as opposed to the civilian sector, although considering that you've been working with the national guard already I don't think it will be a difficult task," the Director said. "What will be the major change?" Mike asked. "There won't be much of a change. You're job is to provide the military with intelligence data and assessments. You won't be planning any operations, but you will be providing real time insights as to how operations are progressing," the Director answered. "The rules of engagement will be different," Mike said. "Rules? We aren't playing by the old rules. When we find terrorists, we will kill them using any means possible," the Director said. The President had been quite clear on that matter. ------- Mike stopped at the supermarket on the way home from work. He was standing in line waiting to pay for his purchases when a woman walked into the store completely topless. Mouth open, he watched her grab a shopping cart and head into the store. More than a few people watched the woman. The strange thing was that she wasn't a particularly attractive woman. He was about to make a comment when the short dumpy woman in front of him in the line said, "I wish I was brave enough to do that." "Huh?" "She's showing the terrorists that they aren't going to win," the woman answered. "Oh." The woman said, "No one would want to see me naked." "I don't think the point is to advertise that you're attractive. I think the point is to make a statement," Mike said shrugging his shoulders. "You know what, you're right," the woman said. Mike looked around at the people in the store. There were all kinds of people there. He noticed another woman walking around topless. When he turned back to see what was happening in the line, he found that the woman in front of him had removed her shirt and was in the process of taking off her bra. Surprised, he said, "I guess you decided to go for it." "Yeah. I hope I don't make you sick to your stomach," the woman answered. Her cheeks were bright red. "There's not chance of that happening," Mike said looking over her head wondering if he should have kept his mouth shut. He could just imagine her getting arrested and blaming him for talking her into it. ------- Cathy was at school so Mike was free to spend the evening doing whatever he wanted. It was only after everyone had left the office that he decided to spend the evening seeing if he could locate any terrorists. He brought up the status board that showed the distribution of Muslims around the country. Looking at the board, he was surprised at the lack of areas with significant populations of Muslims. Selecting the six largest areas, he put the face recognition program to work on the traffic surveillance cameras in the area. Rather than tapping into the live feeds, he used the daily archive. After watching the programs execute for an hour, he decided that there wasn't anything in those areas. Mike tapped in the commands that would stop the programs. Sitting back in his chair, he thought about where he would hide if he were in the same situation the terrorists faced. He leaned forward about to search for areas with a high density of Chinese, but stopped. He had searched just about every major and minor Chinatown in the country. He muttered, "I've caught all of the ones that fled there. Where haven't I looked?" "The Mexicans," Mike answered tapping in the search criteria. He brought up a huge map that laid out the distribution of Hispanics across the country. Thinking about the folks they had missed in the San Diego action, he said, "I know where I would go if I was one of them." Mike looked over the list of cameras that were available for him to download the archival tapes. Looking over the list, he noticed that they were only examined when a crime had taken place in an area covered by the camera. He thought about the list and narrowed his search by eliminating cameras that had been accessed within the last week. There were still a lot of cameras left on the list. He pushed back the time to a month and found that the list had shrunk significantly. Scanning the list of cameras, he noticed something a little odd. He said, "The last time a major crime occurred in that area was a week after the San Diego raid. I wonder why?" He put the face recognition program to work on the crime surveillance cameras in one of the poorer Hispanic neighborhoods in San Diego. The program hadn't run ten minutes before five names on the terrorist most wanted list popped up with high levels of confidence. He went to the videos and watched the flagged portions of the recordings. It wasn't long before he had identified where they were living. With a grin, he picked up the phone and dialed the number to the San Diego Police department. When they answered, he said, "This is Mike Bowman of Homeland Security. Put me through to the Chief of Police. There is a problem that I need to bring to his attention." Over the phone Mike could hear the muffled voice of someone saying, "It's him. It's the Hunter and he wants the Chief." ------- Chapter 33 President Anthony Archer looked around the briefing room with a frown. Shaking his head in disgust, he looked over at Jack Lancer as he said, "The President of the Philippines does not believe our intelligence. What are our options?" Jack Lancer was currently in charge of the political assessments groups for the Asian Pacific countries. He answered, "We can sit by and watch the Philippines fall, we can try again to convince the President of the Philippines to act now, or we can put an end to the coup before it has a chance to start." "I can't convince him of shit since he won't accept my calls," Anthony said striking the table with a fist. Four times he had saved the Philippines from being the site of a major terrorist attack. Each time, the President of the Philippines had protested the actions. He was half tempted to let the Philippines fall to the terrorists. Jack knew that was going to happen. He said, "Then that gives us two choices." "I wish I could get that man to listen to reason," Anthony said. Shaking his head at the idea that the President of the Philippines was being unreasonable, Jack said, "You have to understand things from his perspective. Since you came in office, all of the terrorist attacks in the Philippines have been aimed at American, Australian, and British interests. None of them have been aimed against the Philippine government. They don't want to rock the boat." "But we're telling them that their boat is going to get sunk unless they do something." Jack said, "Our history with them is not very good. We supported them in fighting the terrorists under Bush, but abandoned them under the previous President. They got clobbered there for a bit, but things calmed down after a while. Now we say we want them to go after the terrorists and that we will support them in the fight. "They don't believe us. They think that we're manufacturing this crisis to get them to join our war. They don't want to join our war because they believe that when we get tired of fighting it that they are going to be hung out to dry." Anthony Archer shook his head. Any time that he tried to get support from other countries it always ended up the same. Every world leader of battleground countries told him straight out that America was not a good and consistent ally. The problem was that he believed it as well. The Peace At Any Price crowd was already starting to make anti-war sounds. Shaking his head, he said, "I'm not going to watch that government fall. I'll keep calling them. You guys can keep forwarding the intelligence to them in the hope that eventually they will listen to us." "What should I tell the Navy?" the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff asked. "Tell them to be ready to take out the terrorists. We'll wait until the last minute to give the Philippine government a chance to act," the President answered. ------- Everyone in the room was tense as the live feeds from Predator Drones and mini-drones played out on the screens at the head of the room. They were currently watching the area around one of the largest Mosques in the Philippines. Over the past twenty minutes, a huge crowd had gathered around the Mosque. Having just entered the room, Mike asked, "What's happening?" "The Imam is telling them that it is time to take control of the country," Tony answered. He was the group's most fluent speaker of Arabic and was listening to the speech taking place inside the Mosque. Mike asked, "Where is the weapons cache?" "That very large warehouse next to the Mosque is filled to the rafters with weapons," Jim answered. He was looking forward to seeing it explode. That was going to be one big bang. "The Mosque will be taken out when they hit it," Mike said. "That's right. So will every building within three hundred yards of that warehouse," Jim answered. Mike could easily imagine the reaction of the world to the destruction of the Mosque. He tried to consider the alternatives, but couldn't come up with any. Looking over at Jim, he said, "Inform the Navy that the terrorist are about to make their move and give them the coordinates of the weapons store. I want you to send the President the full disclosure on the proximity of the Mosque to the warehouse and the surrounding domiciles." Jim typed a few commands on his computer and then said, "I've uploaded everything to him." Looking over at Shirley, Mike hadn't given up hope that one of the locals might make an attempt to prevent the coup. He asked, "Has anyone in that area reported to their government what is happening?" "No one has said a word," Shirley answered. She zoomed one of the cameras out and pointed to the crowd that surrounded the Mosque. She said, "The whole neighborhood is watching what is going on." Listening to a feed from the area, Tony said, "They are shouting Jihad over and over." "They aren't watching, they are cheering," Mike said looking at the images being broadcast. Glancing over at the feed covering the warehouse, Shirley said, "It looks like they are opening up the warehouse." Mike glanced over at the monitor and shook his head. He picked up the phone and dialed the situation room at the White House. When the President answered, he said, "This is Mike Bowman. They are about to make their move." "I'll issue the order," President Archer replied in a tense voice before hanging up the phone. Shaking his head, Mike said, "I guess all we can do is watch. Make sure that we record the missile hitting the warehouse. We want to be able to show the world that we didn't target the Mosque." The explosion produced by the missile striking the warehouse was huge. It took out the Mosque, the crowd, and half of the neighborhood. The flimsy construction of the buildings in the area didn't stand a chance against the blast. All of the analysts in the room stared at the devastation in shock. Even though they understood intellectually what to expect, the reality of it went directly to an emotional response. Mike was the first to recover from his shock. He said, "I would say that one terrorist threat has been eliminated. Let's box up the recordings and ship them off to the Philippine National Security Agency." Nodding his head acknowledgement, Jim went to work at the keyboard. Shirley turned to Mike and said, "No one is going to believe it. They are going to think that we hit them with some sort of super bomb." "It doesn't matter what anyone thinks, we know that another threat has been eliminated," Mike said. "The collateral damage is huge," Shirley said. "Collateral damage?" Mike asked. "The civilian bystanders," Shirley said. Mike sat back and looked around the room. He could see that she wasn't the only one who felt that way. After clearing his throat, he said, "Everyone in the neighborhood could hear that sermon given by the Imam. We know that it wasn't the first sermon calling for the overthrow of the government. Not one person there warned the legitimate government that a group of people was planning on taking over the government through force. They aren't innocent bystanders; they are accessories to terrorism. They were directly supporting the terrorists by their cheers or their silence. We don't know how many of those so called innocent bystanders were going to walk over to that warehouse and grab a gun." Nodding her head, Shirley said, "You're right." ------- Mike and Cathy listened to the news that night to see how they covered the attack. The coverage was remarkably balanced. President Archer felt that it was better to allow the intelligence to speak for itself. He authorized the release of the complete recordings of the weapons stored in the warehouse, the speech of the Imam calling for overthrow of the government, the crowd shouting Jihad, and the missile striking the warehouse. The American public remembered the previous five years of living in fear of men motivated to violence by radical Imams. They recognized the true threat documented in the recordings. Many had seen and heard similar rants being broadcast before the attacks on Americans began. They knew that it wasn't a threat, but a promise of action. The rest of the world did not believe the tapes. The Islamic public relations engine presented the Americans as cold blooded murders of innocent people. They broadcast dead bodies being pulled from a school. It wasn't even clear that the school was anywhere near the scene of the explosion. They presented films of anguished families wailing for the dead. They played recordings of the President of the Philippines proclaiming that the Americans had acted against his explicit orders to the contrary. The world was eating it up. Impressed by what she had seen, Cathy turned to Mike and said, "They are so much better at presenting their case than we are." "I know. Did you notice that they didn't address what was actually happening at the Mosque? They don't have to defend themselves. They present themselves as the victim and point all of the blame at us. We just won a major victory by preventing the overthrow of a relatively stable government and the world is condemning us," Mike said shaking his head. Cathy commented, "You know that wars are not won on the battlefield, don't you?" "I haven't figured out how wars are won," Mike said giving voice to an often repeated complaint. "They are won or lost in the press. A good propaganda campaign can undo any victory on the battlefield," Cathy said. The nature of the American press was to find fault with the government and its actions. The nature of the enemy press was to support their war efforts. The result was that presentations of both sides of the conflict portrayed American actions as being wrong. "So how can we turn that around?" Mike asked. He actually knew the military value of a well oiled propaganda machine. The problem was that the Americans were really bad at it. They suffered under the lash of a press that worked to keep the government honest. It couldn't use the big lie. Sure, they could sell packaged ice to Eskimos using commercials, but they couldn't sell that beating an enemy constituted a victory. Cathy shrugged her shoulders and said, "The easiest way is not to have any regard for the truth. If you say what people want to hear and say it with conviction, it can become the truth. I can guarantee you that within two days, they'll be saying that our tapes are fakes." "So how do we counter that?" Mike asked. "I have no idea," Cathy answered with a shrug of her shoulders. Mike joked, "If you can solve that problem, you'll be a hero." Cathy was silent for a minute as she considered what Mike had said. She looked over at Mike and said, "That's not a bad idea. I'll think about it." "It's about time we go visit Sanjay and his lovely wife, Teva the conniver," Mike said. Cathy laughed at his characterization of Teva. She had listened to Mike explain how a large number of people had been working behind the scenes in order to get them together. Although she didn't quite believe him, it was obvious to her that he believed it. She said, "I guess that means that I finally get to meet one of the conspirators." "You already know Kim," Mike said. "She's in on the conspiracy?" "That's right," Mike said. ------- Mike tossed a beer to Sanjay and said, "The women are in the kitchen planning my downfall." Sanjay laughed and popped the top on the beer. After taking a chug, he said, "Relax, it will only be a little painful." "Thanks," Mike said. "She is a beautiful woman," Sanjay said gesturing towards the house. Mike sighed and said, "I miss Karen and Robert. I loved them so much that I thought I would die when they died. There are times when I hate myself for being with Cathy. I know that Karen is dead, but I feel like I'm cheating on her. I can't help it." "I understand," Sanjay said. "It's not fair to Cathy. She's a nice girl and deserves someone who can give his whole heart to her. I can't do that. At least not yet," Mike said. Sanjay prodded the hamburger with the spatula while he thought about what Mike had said. After a minute, he asked, "Has she asked you to do that?" "No," Mike answered. "In India marriages are usually arranged by the family. They take into account caste, economic background, the history of the family, astrology, religion, and a hundred other factors when creating a match. It is a very big deal, but it doesn't involve love. Often the bride and groom haven't even met until just before the ceremony. It is assumed that if everything else is perfect that love will follow," Sanjay said. He gave a short laugh and said, "I met Teva here and we used to talk about things over coffee. I fell in love with her. I wasn't expecting that to happen, but it did. I fought it, but that didn't accomplish anything except create a few bad memories. It was a big scandal when I married Teva." "I bet," Mike said. "These things work out in their own way. You can't force them to happen. You can't really prevent them from happening," Sanjay said working the burger free from the grill. He flipped it over to cook on the other side. He looked over at Mike and said, "Either you will give your heart to her or you won't. It isn't the kind of thing that you can decide. It will either happen or it won't." Mike took a sip of his beer and said, "You're right." Sanjay winked and said, "Of course I'm right. Teva told me what to say." Caught taking a sip of his beer, Mike nearly spit his beer out. Coughing, he said, "You've got to warn me when you say something like that." Inside the house, Cathy was sandwiched between Teva and Kim. Teva was talking about what a good man Mike was and how much her family owed them. Kim was talking about what a great man he was. Cathy didn't need the pep talk; she was already head over heels in love. ------- The war on terror being waged by the United States had far reaching implications around the world. After the first few attacks against terrorist training camps in countries that had not given the United States permission, France broke off diplomatic relations. In a widely aired speech, the President of France declared the United States of America to be a rogue nation. He did not buy the American argument that it was a matter of national defense to eliminate irregular armies that were attacking it or training to attack it. The world waited to hear how the President of the United States responded to the termination of diplomatic relations with France. There was no public response in the form of a direct comment by the President. The State Department sent a message over to the French Embassy in Washington that they were to vacate the premises as soon as possible. In what was touted as a gesture of goodwill, there was even an offer to help them pack. This was not the reaction that the French had expected. The same thing happened when Belgium, Germany, Sweden, and Norway followed the example of the French. The nations of Europe watched America with real fear. While they had decided that President Bush was reckless, they were terrified that President Archer was insane. The destruction of the Mosque in the Philippines had become a critical political crisis in international relations. Asian countries started terminating diplomatic relations with the United States. The first to end relations was Thailand. Part of reason was that a small but violent Muslim group operated within their borders. With protesters in the streets demanding an end to relations with America and bombs exploding outside bus stops, the government of Thailand felt that there was no real choice in the matter. Rather than anger the terrorists, they chose to placate them. The African countries joined in the mass exodus to isolate America. Their motivations were much simpler. America was half of a world away while the Middle East was basically on the same continent. This was not in those countries best interests. They had forgotten that historically Arab slavers used the African continent as a major source of slaves. The slave trade suddenly took a huge swing upwards. The majority of anti-slavery laws, as well as their enforcement, in the Middle East had been a result of strong economic pressure by the United States. With the former governments of those countries having fallen, those laws were repealed. Muslims were allowed to own slaves as it had been up until the late part of the twentieth century. The result was that the African continent became the site of frequent slave raids in which entire villages were marched off to North Africa along traditional trade routes. Tin pot African dictators found that they were suddenly free of American restrictions. They went after every bit of wealth that they could grab. Over ten million Africans died in tribal wars that flared up across the continent. Interestingly enough, even as Europe was blaming America for all of the problems in the world, it was also demanding that America intervene to solve the problems in Africa. Despite billions of dollars to help Africa with the Aids problem and billions more in agriculture and urban development grants, America was viewed as the root of all problems African. It didn't matter that Europe had carved Africa up into colonies and left them in shambles when they had pulled out of that continent. President Archer's reply to European demands was less than polite. ------- Mike and Cathy were at his house watching an interview on the Wolf News Channel. The reporter asked, "What are you going to do about the problems in Africa?" The President answered, "I'm taking care of that now. I'm killing the terrorists located in Africa who have killed Americans." Rather surprised by the answer, the interviewer took a second to recover. He asked the question a different way, "What about the social and economic problems there?" President Archer looked at the interviewer for a full five seconds. Five seconds is a very long time, particularly during an interview. Finally, he answered, "When this country had problems with terrorists killing our people in the streets, we saw how many other countries supported us. Those countries did nothing about it. We saw how many of them provided us with intelligence about threats to us. We saw how many of them arrested known terrorists for extradition here. If I recall correctly, that number was exactly zero. That's exactly how many countries I'm going to help with their problems during my Presidency." "But the people of Africa need us," the interviewer said. "Those same countries that are now in chaos had terrorist cells in them who actively attacked us. They did nothing to help us. Those countries broke off diplomatic relations with us. Now those terrorist cells have started to destabilize the countries in which they are hiding. Personally, I don't give a damn if everyone in Africa kills each other." "You don't mean that?" The President answered, "Not really. History has shown that there is nothing that we can do there. If we provide foreign aid, then we're accused of supporting a puppet government and everyone hates us. If we don't provide aid, then we're accused of trying to topple the government. If we topple a government that is killing its citizens, then we are accused of enabling another blood thirsty tyrant to take control over the country. If we don't topple them, then we are accused of keeping the tyrant in power. "We've shipped bushel baskets filled with dollars over there every year since 1960 and it hasn't done a bit of good. The money we pump into social programs end up going into the pockets of corrupt politicians. We can't win. We won't play that game any more," President Archer said. "What about American interests there?" "I promise that if one American is killed, that I will destroy everyone responsible," President Archer answered leaving the reporter speechless. After watching the interview with the President, Cathy said, "Those are pretty tough words." "Yes they are," Mike said thinking about it. He had noticed that President Archer tended to understate the level of activity taking place behind the scenes. He felt that there was a lot more going on than suggested in that interview. "What do you think?" Cathy asked. "I think the President is right as far as our ability to help Africa. I don't think there is anything that we can do that will actually to help Africa," Mike answered. He tried to think of one successful effort to help Africa and couldn't come up with one. For over fifty years, the world had been trying to set Africa on its feet and in all of that time, not one country ever stood up. "How about education?" Cathy asked. Mike sighed at the question and said, "For years we've been supporting education in Africa. We've helped to build colleges. We've given scholarships for their people to get educated in this country. We've sent teachers over there to train people. We've helped train enough doctors and nurses that healthcare on the whole African continent should be at the same levels in Europe. Do you know where those doctors and nurses are?" "No. Where?" "Here and in Europe," Mike answered shaking his head. The same was true for the engineers and other professions that were educated over the years. It seemed as if anyone with brains left the continent as soon as possible. He said, "They leave Africa as soon as they get trained." "There has to be something that can be done," Cathy said. "I wish there was," Mike replied with a sigh. He said, "There are so many problems in the world and no one really has a solution to them. Too often the advice is to throw money at the problem. That hasn't helped. There isn't one country that is better off after fifty years of our attempts to improve things. "Pointing to the reconstruction of Germany and Japan after the destruction of those countries at the end of World War II as an example of success is misleading. Both countries had a history of industrialization and civilization. No one had to tell either country how an industrialized society functioned or how to establish a functional government. That isn't the case in Africa, particularly as it currently stands today." "We can't give up on them," Cathy said. "I don't think we have. I think we've come to the realization that we can't help them and that our attempts to help them may be holding them back," Mike said. "What do you mean?" Cathy asked looking at Mike with a puzzled expression on her face. "There has to be a fundamental change in Africa and the rest of the world before we can help the Africans. I think we have to wait until they are ready for our help," Mike answered. "I don't follow you." Realizing that he was being a little too cryptic, he added, "The Africans have to learn what it means to be a nation. They have to learn what it means to have a national identity in terms of a common culture, a shared language, and a unified vision for the future. Once they figure that out, they will have to redraw their national boundaries. It is not up to us to lead them to that realization. It is not up to us to redraw their national boundaries." "Who will?" "That is a very good question. My money is on the terrorists and it is going to be a very brutal lesson. I have a feeling there are going to be new countries with names like Maasi, Berber, Zulu, and Ashanti." ------- Chapter 34 The training camp consisted of a handful of tents huddled beside an obstacle course. It was rough, but the man in charge was used to primitive conditions. He had fought the Americans in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iraq. His goal at the camp was to toughen up the recruits so that they could fight in any circumstance. Towards that end, he ruled the camp with a brutal hand. There were four men walking around with guns cradled in their hands. They had orders to protect the training camp and keep the recruits in line. Three dozen men were lined up to perform their morning exercises. They would go through a grueling fitness program prior to hand-to-hand combat training. Mike watched them perform jumping jacks over the live feed from a predator drone circling overhead. He looked over at Jim and said, "We're going to watch this engagement today. The Marines are trying out the proxy-soldiers." "Ah, I've been wondering when we'd see that," Jim said. On the screen, two proxy-soldiers were crawling towards the training camp. Their motions looked a little jerky. When the figures stood, Mike said, "They are going in." The two proxy-soldiers charged into the camp with guns blazing. The first man to fall was the one in charge of the camp. He never knew what hit him. The men who were exercising immediately fell under the assault. Even as the guards were riddled with bullets, one of them managed to turn and fire at the proxy-solders. His effort had no effect on the proxy-soldiers. The entire engagement had lasted less than four seconds. Staring at the screen, it took Jim almost that long to process what had happened. In an awed voice, he said, "It is over already." "That didn't take long," Mike said with a frown. After reviewing the recordings of all communication activities taken during the attack, Jim said, "They didn't have a chance to get out word about the engagement." The two proxy-soldiers went through the camp pulling the tents down making sure that Mike's team hadn't miscounted the number of terrorists at the camp. The majority of tents had contained simple blankets folded on the bare ground. One of the tents had a couple of laptops. Mike said, "Send in someone to pick up the laptops." While Charlie talked to someone over his headset, Jim said, "Those proxy-soldiers looked like they did okay." "It wasn't much of a test," Mike said staring at the scene. The guards had been taken by surprise and the rest of the men were unarmed. He wondered what would happen when there was a real engagement against an enemy that was ready for them. The proxy- soldiers hadn't looked very graceful. He added, "Let's see what happens when they go into an area full of IEDs." As if on cue, Shirley said, "I'm switching the display over to the second attack site." The screen at the front of the room changed. This camp was a far different place than the previous one. There were mockups of jets on the ground, a couple of buses, and a fake building. There were close to a hundred men wandering around the camp. These were hard looking men who had been through basic training camps like the proxy-soldiers had just destroyed. Everyone was armed. Looking over at Shirley, Mike asked, "What kind of training are they getting here?" "This is a second level training camp where they are learning basic tactical skills. One group is currently practicing hijacking airplanes," Shirley answered. "What is with the buses and the fake building?" Mike asked. "The buses appear to be a standard training exercise at this site. Everyone learns how to drive the bus. I suspect that they are planning on filling buses with explosives and driving them up to an embassy or military base," Shirley answered. There had been several cases of that having happened in the past three years. "The fake building?" "That's a mockup of a school. We think it is patterned after a school in Germany, but we're not sure. I don't think it really matters. They are practicing how to take control of a building. We won't know more about what they might be planning until we get real people there," Shirley answered. This engagement lasted a little longer than the first one, but it had the same result. All of the people at the camp were dead and the proxy-soldiers were going around clearing out all of the areas. Mike watched the action and said, "There isn't too much for us to do here except watch." Shirley nodded her head in agreement and said, "We told them what to expect when they got there. Our job ended the moment they attacked." Shrugging his shoulders, Mike felt somewhat dissatisfied. He knew that it was important work, but compared to hunting down the terrorists it wasn't all that fulfilling. Trying to force a little enthusiasm into his voice, he said, "Great job people." ------- Mike and Cathy were relaxing in the bathing pond. Although the presence of Kim in the house tended to make both of them feel a little inhibited, neither of them was wearing a swimming suit. Cathy looked over at Mike and said, "Your reaction to the fighting wasn't all that convincing." "I know," Mike said with a frown. Shaking his head, he said, "I don't enjoy what we are doing. It is too much like assassination. I recognize the necessity of using every advantage that we have, but I don't have to like it." "I understand that," Cathy said. She thought about the dangers that the terrorists represented. If the terrorists had been successful in taking over the Philippine Government the entire Asian Pacific area would be dominated by governments overtly hostile to the United States. "I'd rather be hunting down the men who've already attacked us," Mike said. There was an edge of anger in his voice. "You're good at that," Cathy said stretching a leg across the bathing pond. Her foot found his crotch and she stroked his cock a little. "You're good at that," Mike said with a groan. He immediately forgot what they had been talking about. ------- Mike looked up from his monitor with a smile on his face. He said, "I found him." "Who?" Jim asked. "Jamal bin Laden," Mike answered. This was another of the sons of Osama who had been leading efforts to overthrow the west. This particular son had been operating in the Far East and had been instrumental in organizing many major operations that had killed thousands of Americans. "Where is he?" Jim asked. "Manila," Mike answered uploading the information to the Naval Fleet parked within striking distance of Manila. He put the feed on the screen at the front of the room and said, "Take over for me Jim." Jim was ready for the change of control. He was particularly good at following an individual through a crowd. As the mini-drone followed the man, software was running to check and double- check his identity. Jim dropped an experimental tag from the mini- drone and was pleased to see that it got attached to Jamal. The tag would allow him to follow Jamal through buildings and underground passages. Mike was busy on the phone making arrangements for the Air Force to take out Jamal. This was a very big catch and his death would significantly impact the effectiveness of the terrorists across the entire Asian front. He watched the screen at the front of the room. Jamal entered a building and disappeared from view. The tag was broadcasting his position. Ten long tense minutes passed before there was the streak of a missile hitting the area from which the tag was broadcasting. Even as the dust was settling, Mike said, "Watch the area and make sure that he didn't get away." The activity in the area of the explosion was frantic. Jim recognized other terrorists running into the area to dig out Jamal. Smiling, he said, "There are his bodyguards." "We need to get more sensors into the area," Mike said lifting the phone. They had found a major nest and he hoped that they'd be able to take it out. Jim shook his head and said, "The Predator Drone is about out of fuel. We're going to lose our feed soon." "Damn," Mike swore. The situation got even worse. Philippine police arrived and the terrorists split up and headed a dozen different directions. Shaking his head, he said, "Maybe we'll get them the next time." ------- Bob was mowing the front yard when Mike pulled into his driveway. Getting out of the car, Mike watched Bob make another circuit across the yard. Bob noticed Mike and let go of the handle of his mower. It died even as Bob started to walk across the yard toward Mike. Bob called out, "Hello, Mike." "Hello, Bob. How are things going?" Mike asked. He hadn't seen Bob in a couple of weeks. Wearing a great big smile on his face, Bob answered, "Ellen and I are going to take a vacation." "That's great," Mike said. "We're really looking forward to it. We haven't taken one since 2009," Bob said. Thinking that Bob wasn't the only who hadn't taken a vacation since 2009, Mike asked, "Where are you going?" "We're flying to Las Vegas." The answer surprised Mike. He remembered when Bob had come over to ask him if it was safe to go into crowded locations. It struck him as significant that Bob hadn't asked him about traveling at all. Nodding his head, Mike said, "I think you'll have a good time. They are really going all out to attract tourists in Vegas. I've heard that it was like the old days when a visitor was treated like a king." "Yes, I've heard the same thing," Bob said with a grin. "I wish you luck at the tables," Mike said. "There for a while I thought that we'd never do anything like that again. Flying was out of the question. It seemed like every week a plane was getting blown up. Even if we drove, tourist locations were too dangerous to visit. I'm surprised that some of them even survived," Bob said. A number of amusement parks had closed down after suicide bombers had struck them a couple of times. The house that the mouse built in Los Angeles had been one of the early victims. "Some of them still might not survive," Mike said. Even though business was starting to improve many of the tourist locations had very high overheads. It was a race against time to see if they would last long enough to return to profitability before they were foreclosed. The slightly negative comment by Mike worried Bob. He asked, "You don't think we're making a mistake, do you?" "No. I've got to say that President Archer was successful in eliminating terrorism inside the country. There are still a few nutcases out there, but they aren't organized or equipped," Mike answered. "Good. That's what we thought," Bob said. He looked down at the grass for a second and then said, "There for a while, I thought that America was a goner. I don't think that way anymore. I've got a feeling that by the time President Archer has finished with the terrorists overseas that an American will be able to walk naked down the street in Tehran and no one would say a word." "I've got a feeling that you're right," Mike said wondering if there would even be a Tehran left by the time the war was over. Bob pointed down the street at one of the neighbors. The man was out mowing the lawn and taking care of the yard. His wife was outside taking care of the garden. The woman was topless. Bob said, "I don't get it. She's walking around topless and no one is saying anything about it." Mike looked over at the young couple for a few seconds. The woman was very attractive. Pursing his lips, he said, "I've heard that a lot of young women are doing that. I even ran into an older woman in the grocery store who removed her shirt and left the store topless. They are thumbing their noses at the Islamic radicals." "I'm not sure what I think about that. In a way I understand it. We really came close to losing the war against the terrorists. I've got a feeling that my wife would have had to wear a Burka. I'd rather have her walk around naked in protest than have to live like that," Bob said. "I doubt she would have had to wear a Burka. She'd have probably been a slave," Mike said thinking to himself that it would have been highly unlikely that a woman her age would have been allowed to live. "We'd have been slaves?" Bob asked. Mike shook his head and said, "You'd have been dead." Bob thought about what Mike had said. A few years ago he would have argued that no one practiced slavery, but he'd watched what had happened in Africa. Now he believed that the Muslim conquerors would have made slaves of them. Shaking his head, he said, "You're probably right." "You know, I'm really pleased that you and Ellen are going on vacation," Mike said wanting to get the topic to a more pleasant subject. "Why?" Bob asked puzzled that Mike would be pleased. "It convinces me that America is returning to normal," Mike said. ------- The funeral for Jamal bin Laden had turned into a huge affair. Thousands of people had flown into the Philippines to attend it as a statement of solidarity against the Americans. The American press was notably absent since several reporters had been murdered the previous day. It was a common belief among the extremists that the American reporters were actually agents of Homeland Security. There were still live broadcasts from the funeral. The Arab press was there in full force. The broadcasts were praising Jamal bin Laden as a martyr who had killed thousands of the evil Americans in defense of innocent Muslims around the world. The Philippine government did nothing as a huge crowd gathered to bury Jamal bin Laden. The American government had asked that it not allow a public funeral, but the Philippine government had rejected the request. The President of the Philippines had said that they wouldn't interfere in a religious ceremony of such a high level and popular figure. The President of the United States was not happy about that response. A live feed from Predator Drones was piped into an Internet Café and was being watched by Mike. The funeral was not what he would consider a peaceful assembly of mourners. More than two thirds of the people were wearing masks to hide their identities. The green of Hezbollah was in evidence as were the colors of other terrorist groups. AK-47s were abundant with just about everyone there waving one in the air. On separate screens were broadcasts from news channels. They didn't even need to play camera tricks to show just how large a crowd had gathered. Looking at the scene, Mike asked, "How many people are there in the crowd?" "The software has placed the crowd at twenty-three thousand," Jim answered after glancing down at his computer. "That's a lot of terrorists all gathered in one place," Mike said. He could make out the insignias of a half dozen major terrorist organizations. Some of the men were raising posters of the leader of their particular group. He had seen some of the flight manifests and knew that some of the highest ranking members of the Muslim Brotherhood were in attendance. Nodding his head in agreement, Jim said, "Not for very much longer." There was the flash of a MOAB going off over the area in which funeral was being held on the feed from the Predator Drone. The broadcast from the Arabian news services cut off suddenly when the wave of destruction hit the cameras. There was just the barest hint in the final second of the broadcast of what had happened. Mike shook his head and said, "That's it." "Yes, sir," Jim said watching the mushroom cloud boil up over the area on the feed from the Predator Drone. He knew that the Islamic press would report that it had been an atomic bomb rather than a MOAB, but the President was ready for that charge. It had been made every time they had used a MOAB in taking out terrorists. Shaking his head, Mike said, "We're never going to know who was there." "I captured the faces of all of the men who were unmasked from all of the video being broadcast," Jim said. "Run the face recognition programs against the images," Mike said. There wasn't anything standing within four hundred yards of the targeted site. There were a few terrorists who had been on the fringes that were still moving, but they had serious burns over their bodies. He sighed and said, "That was one hell of a funeral." "The world is not going to react favorably to what we did," Jim said. ------- Sanjay, Mike, and Tim were fishing. It was a very hot August afternoon and the fish weren't biting. Sanjay said, "As a result of events in the Philippines, China is under a lot of pressure to intervene on behalf of the terrorists." Mike knew that Sanjay wouldn't mention anything unless it was serious. He asked, "What's going on?" "Since the radicals have taken over the countries of OPEC, they've been controlling who gets oil. They are blackmailing China to help them," Sanjay said. Ever since he had learned that China had killed his friend in exchange for oil, he had watched the Chinese like a hawk. "What do you think is going to happen?" Tim asked. He knew that the Chinese had been a partner in the attack on Homeland Security locations that had resulted in Sanjay's broken leg. "China is going to declare America a rogue state and declare war on us," Sanjay answered with a worried expression on his face. China was a giant country and he wasn't sure that the United States could win a war against it. It had a billion more people than the United States and that would be a significant advantage if it came to a conventional war. It was a nuclear power and had the ability to drop missiles just about anywhere on the North American continent. Worried, Tim asked, "What are the chances of it going nuclear?" "Very good," Sanjay answered. He had read some reports that had filtered through the high energy weapons programs in China that resources were being diverted for National Security reasons. One of the labs that was in a nuclear facility had been closed so that they could increase production in the nuclear facility. There had been several major tests of missile systems over the past year. "Shit," Tim said shaking his head at the answer. Accepting that it would come to war, Mike asked, "When?" "According to the political types, they'll declare war within seventy two hours. I have no idea how long they will wait before they'll launch," Sanjay answered setting down his fishing pole. He said, "I know that we are prepared for an attack, but I don't know how the President is going to respond." Mike cast out and slowly reeled his line in while thinking about it. He sighed and asked, "Should I talk to him?" "Yes," Sanjay answered. Nodding his head, Tim said, "It's about time to get back to Washington." "I guess we can swing by the White House on the way home," Mike said. Sanjay laughed and asked, "Do you think they'll let us anywhere near the White House while we're towing a boat?" ------- President Archer greeted the three men with handshakes as they entered the Oval Office. Going back to his desk, he looked at the three men in his office. It was obvious that they had been fishing. When he had heard that a truck pulling a boat had showed up at the driveway of the White House, he had laughed. When he had learned that it was Mike Bowman asking to see him, he had cleared his schedule. Looking at the grim faces, he wondered why they were there. He said, "This is the first time you've ever asked to see me, Mike. You must be pretty worried about something to do that." "I am," Mike replied. "Are you upset about the funeral?" Tony asked. He knew that a lot of people had viewed that as a sacrilege, but he believed that a gathering of so many of the enemy represented an opportunity that would ultimately save more lives. "Not at all. I thought it was rather fitting," Mike answered. After glancing at Mike, Tim said, "We're concerned about your reaction to the Chinese." "What? Have they done something that I don't know about?" Tony asked surprised at the topic. "You know what is going to happen," Mike said. Tony sighed and said, "You're talking about the declaration of war that they'll issue and the coming attack, aren't you?" "Yes," Sanjay said with a wobble of his head. President Archer looked at Sanjay for a minute. He didn't trust foreigners in positions where they had access to information critical to National Security. Frowning, he asked, "Who are you?" In a very soft voice, Mike answered, "He's a valued member of the Intelligence 100." Tony's head swiveled to stare at Mike. The Intelligence 100 was legendary. It was rumored that it was the group that had managed to save the entire intelligence community. Seeing that all three of them were nodding their heads, he realized that three members were sitting in his office. Clearing his throat, he said, "I thought that it had been disbanded." Mike gave the President a grim smile knowing that what he was about to say would be interpreted as a threat. He said, "Operations have been suspended for now, but it can be reconstituted under special circumstances." Tim said, "From what I understand, the leadership still meets once a month to assess the situation." "Oh," Tony said. He had always suspected that there was a bit more to Mike than his official record suggested. "What are you going to do when the Chinese start tossing nukes in our direction?" Mike asked bluntly. "It depends on how successful our missile defense system is in stopping the missiles. If it takes out all of the missiles, I'll ask for the extradition of the Chinese Premiere to stand trial here for attempted mass murder of American citizens. If it takes out all but one or two, we'll use conventional weapons to reduce the Chinese government to rubble. If we get clobbered, the entire world will burn. I'll retaliate with nukes in China, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Venezuela," Tony answered naming the countries that were involved in the upcoming actions. He knew that the situation would very quickly escalate. Shocked at the level of destruction the President was describing, Sanjay asked, "Isn't that a little extreme?" "If the west coast disappears under a nuclear attack, everything that is America will disappear if we don't respond with excessive force. Maybe the survivors will be able to reconstitute the country. If we don't respond, then everyone will be praying to Allah," Tony answered. Based on his discussions with the Admiral, Mike knew that the missile defense system was very good. Nodding his head, he asked, "Have you warned the Chinese?" "Yes, but they are under tremendous pressure to act. If they don't, odds are good that their government won't be standing two months from now," Tony answered wondering why he was justifying his actions to Mike. Sanjay bobbled his head and said, "Mike. That is a very accurate assessment of what is going on in China. If they get their oil supply cut off, their country will grind to a halt in three weeks. Although they started a national stockpile like we have, they've almost depleted it over the past two years. The Communist Party will fall within a few weeks of that. A few months later, I would expect the State Government to fall." Mike rose from his chair and looked President Archer in the eye. In a very quiet voice, he said, "After my wife was murdered, my father told me that my job was to eliminate the terrorist threat. He also told me not to let my hate harden my heart. I've been working towards that end. I suggest that you not let your hate harden your heart." President Archer was fully aware that Mike had single-handedly located well over a hundred terrorists hiding in different parts of the country. He was gaining a reputation as a hunter of terrorists. Late night calls to Police Chiefs produced raids that netted the worst of the worst. He wanted Mike to know that he was doing his part as well. He said, "Every night I go to bed thinking about how they murdered my wife in that mall. There's only one thing that I want. I want to reach a point where every American can live their life without fear that someone is going to murder them when they go to the store, walk down their street, or sleep in their bed. I'm not going to let the terrorists win." "Don't destroy America in the process. Remember that the best of intentions often lead to the greatest evil," Mike said. "I'm not going to destroy the basic principles on which this country is based." "Good," Mike said. He knew that there were many people in America who believed that President Archer had already destroyed the basic principles of the country. Of course, there were some who felt that the basic principles as practiced in the past had been a sham. He added, "See that you don't go down in history as the man who destroyed America." President Archer smiled at Mike thinking that the man was able to say things to him that anyone else would get fired for saying. He recognized that he needed Mike to keep him in line. He said, "When Roman conquerors were honored in a triumphal procession, a slave stood behind the hero holding a Laurel Crown over his head. The slave also whispered a warning that glory is fleeting. I think that we all need a reminder that we are fallible. I thank you for your warning." ------- Mike pulled into his driveway tired from a long day at work. As he put his car into park, he glanced over at Bob's house. Bob and Ellen were working in the yard. Bob was trimming the bushes that grew around the front of the house. Ellen was washing the windows using a power washer. The only thing odd about the scene was that Ellen was topless. He wondered if they had enjoyed their vacation. ------- Chapter 35 Moaning in pleasure, Cathy said, "You are amazing." "Thank you." Another sigh of pleasure escaped from her mouth. She said, "You can do this to me every day." Kim worked on a particularly tight muscle in Cathy's back and said, "When you marry Mike, I will do this for you every day." Cathy sighed, but this sigh wasn't one of pleasure. She said, "I don't think he'll marry me." "Yes, he will," Kim said working the muscles along the spine with her thumbs. She wondered what Cathy did at her job that made her so tense. "He still loves his first wife," Cathy said. Kim knew there was an element of truth to that statement. She said, "That is true, but that doesn't prevent him from loving you. Now be quiet and enjoy." Cathy fell asleep about fifteen minutes later. She didn't remember waking enough to roll over onto her back. Her eyes shot open when she felt Kim diddling her clit with just the right touch. She arched her back and came totally surprised by the climax. She sat up and asked, "How dare you?" "Massage is not complete until all sources of tension in the body have been relaxed. You are now relaxed," Kim said. "But..." "It means nothing. Now go get in the bathing pond. Mike will be home soon," Kim said dismissing any chance for objection. She turned and started packing away the massage oils. Seeing that Cathy hadn't moved she used the voice to command, "Go now." Cathy found that she was seated in the bathing pond waiting for Mike without realizing how she had gotten there. She wondered if it was possible to package that voice and sell it. She didn't exactly like the idea of a woman bringing her to orgasm, but she had to admit that she was a lot more relaxed after the massage. ------- Just as Sanjay had predicted, the Premier of China declared war on the United States stating that it was a rogue country that had to be stopped. The President of China had backed him in the declaration of war. It was one of the few speeches of the Premier of China to actually be covered by the American news services. The world waited for the reaction of President Archer, but he never addressed the declaration of war in one of his speeches. Finally, in a news conference one of the reporters shouted out, "What do you say about the fact that China has declared war on us?" "He declared war on America. We haven't declared war on him," President Archer answered with a shrug of his shoulders. "What are you going to do about it?" "Nothing." "What do you mean? You'll do nothing?" President Archer looked at the reporter and answered, "It's very simple. Countries can jump up and down all they want. They can yell us at. I don't care. I'm taking care of America. If anyone attacks us, then we'll come down on them like a ton of bricks. They won't survive. Declaring war is China's way of yelling at us. Big deal. China is not attacking us so I will do nothing to it." "Are you saying that if China attacks us, that we'll respond?" "I'm saying that if anyone kills an American, we'll respond without restraint to make sure that the guilty party is punished," President Archer answered. To say that China was puzzled by his answer would be an understatement. They had expected some sort of significant reaction. They had expected a little saber rattling. There had even been a chance that he would have sent a diplomat to discuss the matter. To be ignored was just insulting. The Premier was furious. He was the head of the Communist Party in China. As a result of the failure of the capitalist experiment his power was on the rise. He had expected to be taken seriously by the United States. ------- Mike studied the situation board at the front of the room with a frown. There was a map of the Asian Pacific Rim on the main screen. They used a red dot to identify each location where a known terrorist was being tracked. A huge number of red dots had disappeared from the map on the day of the funeral of Jamal bin Laden. All of the remaining dots had moved to Pakistan and they had stayed there ever since that day. Cathy watched Mike from across the room. She noticed that his coffee had gone cold and wondered what he was thinking. She filled a cup and took it over to his workstation. She left with his cold cup of coffee. He leaned forward and stared at the screen some more. Charlie had a dozen Predator Drones flying over Thailand. Shirley had another dozen flying over the Philippines. Jim had another dozen flying over Indonesia. Other analysts had drones flying over Malaysia and Brunei. They were looking for any sign of Islamic radicals. They had been doing that for two weeks and had found no one that triggered any alarms. After studying the information recovered on the disks that had been found in the hotel room of one of the key figures at the Jamal bin Laden funeral, Harold McKinsey sat back in his chair and said, "All of the information that I found says that they were going to take over the government of the Philippines during the funeral. Our attack destroyed their attempt to stage a coup." "Tell me something we don't know," Shirley said. Mike gestured to Cathy without taking his eyes off the situation board. She went over to him and he said, "I need your fingers." "Sure," Cathy said sitting down at a terminal. Mike said, "Link Jamal Pakistan Jihad Revolution Tape India." Cathy typed in the words and hit return after Mike had stopped speaking. A dozen articles were found. She said, "We've got a dozen articles." "Select Link Death." After Cathy typed in the words, she said, "There's one article." "What does it say?" Mike asked. "It says that Jamal bin Laden made a tape in Pakistan vowing that he would carry forth Jihad and remove the leader who had supported the Americans. The tape appeared shortly after his death," Cathy said summarizing the article. Mike asked, "What's the India connection?" "India was to be taken by forces attacking from Pakistan and by Muslims inside the country," Cathy answered. "He had a plan and someone is following it," Mike said nodding his head. For two weeks he had been trying to figure out why there were so many terrorists in Pakistan. At first he thought they would try to have a coup in Pakistan, but questioned that hypothesis since it was the most terrorist friendly country in the entire area. He laughed when he realized just how far off base his thoughts had been. He said, "They aren't planning on taking over Pakistan. The government there already supports them. They are after India." Harold asked, "So what do we do?" "The key is in India," Mike said. Looking over at the rest of the crew, he said, "I want a copy of that tape." ------- "Does Kim give you massages?" Cathy asked one night while they were out at dinner together. "Yes," Mike answered wondering why she was suddenly asking about massages. He felt a little guilty about how they always ended, particularly now that he had a girlfriend. He had asked Kim not to end them as she did, but she ignored his requests saying that a massage was not complete until all sources of tension were relieved. With a sinking feeling in her stomach, Cathy asked, "How often?" "Maybe once a month or so," Mike answered. "Is that all?" Cathy asked amazed that he wasn't getting one every night. If she were him, she'd be begging for a massage every chance she got. "Yes," Mike answered. Seeing that she wanted more than one word answers to her questions, he said, "She gives me a massage when I've been particularly tense or there is some important event coming up. She does it only when she thinks that I should be relaxed. I don't ever ask her for one. She just decides that it is time." "Oh," Cathy said staring down at her plate. She had a half of a tuna steak remaining on her plate but the fact was that she wasn't all that hungry. "Is there something the matter?" Mike asked. Licking her lips, Cathy said, "She gave me a massage the other day." "Oh," Mike said. Curious, he asked, "How was it?" "It was heavenly," Cathy answered staring at her plate. She counted the pieces of asparagus left on the plate trying to figure out how to say what was bothering her. Mike had started to take a sip of water when she added, "She gave me a happy ending." Despite being very surprised by the admission, Mike didn't choke on his sip of water. He swallowed it feeling his heart pounding hard in his chest. Rather than admit that his massages ended the same way, he said, "I'm surprised to hear that. I didn't know that there was such a thing as a happy ending for women." "Don't be so surprised," Cathy said looking at Mike. With a little ice in her voice, she asked, "Did you think that women couldn't come at the end of a massage just like a man?" "I hadn't really thought about it," Mike answered not knowing what to say. "Oh," Cathy said feeling awkward at her slight outburst of anger. She asked, "Why don't you get massages more often?" "Um, I just don't feel comfortable asking for a massage. She is the one who insists on giving them to me. She has this voice she uses and I can't say no," Mike said. Having experienced the voice, Cathy nodded her head and said, "I know what you mean about the voice." "You've heard it?" Mike asked. "At the end of the massage I kind of objected to the happy ending. She shut me down so fast it made my head spin," Cathy said. She looked over at him and asked, "Does she give you happy endings?" There weren't too many ways to duck that specific of a question. He answered, "Yes, but it is very clinical on her part." Having experienced it, she wouldn't have believed any other answer. Biting her lower lip, she asked, "Would you mind if she occasionally gave me a massage in the future?" "No," Mike answered wondering if it was the answer she wanted to hear. Feeling relieved, Cathy said, "Thank you." "You're welcome," Mike said wondering if she was going to ask him not to get happy endings from Kim. "Have you had any news about when we're moving to Texas?" Cathy asked changing the subject. Confused by the sudden change in subject, Mike answered, "No." ------- Mike finished the report on the Pakistan/India situation. The two countries were not in his jurisdiction, a fact that irritated him. The terrorists were there and nothing was happening in his part of the world. His team had devastated the terrorist organizations operating in that area. Even the small but very active group in Thailand had been taken out at the Jamal bin Laden funeral. The government of Thailand had used the opportunity to round up the remaining suspected terrorists. It had taken him forever to type up the report, but he had wanted full authorship of it. Using the mouse, he sent off the report. Sitting back, he sighed. He looked around the room and saw that everyone was just idly browsing the database looking for something that would require their attention. When the situation status board started flashing, everyone looked up to see what was happening. The alert level shifted from the normal high level to the highest level in one jump. The message that China had just launched fourteen missiles appeared on the alert window. Everyone turned to their computer to get more information, but Mike said, "Hold on. Don't tax the system." Totally freaked at the messages on the board, Charlie asked, "What's going on?" "China has launched some missiles. Let the groups that are dealing with China do their jobs," Mike said watching the screen. Another message saying that a missile had been destroyed showed up on the alert screen. Then another message to the same effect showed up. Mike watched as the first alert scrolled off the screen as more messages scrolled past stating that missiles were being destroyed. The last message said that all missiles launched had been destroyed. "What's going on?" Jim asked staring at the board. "All of the missiles that were launched were destroyed," Mike said stating the obvious. The messages had been military SITREP messages that came directly from military feeds rather than the civilian feeds. "Less than thirty seconds passed between the first and last message," Charlie said. He wondered if they hadn't watched some sort of glitch in the software. "That's about right," Mike said. He looked over at the news service noting that there wasn't anything on the news about the launch. "Do you know what is going on?" Shirley asked looking over at Mike. Mike didn't like being put on the spot like that. He answered, "This is speculation, but it would appear that China is following through on their declaration of war and has launched some missiles towards us. Either they changed their minds or we destroyed them." The entire room waited to see what happened next. A message appeared that Russia had gone on high alert. It was obvious that they had observed the launch and subsequent destruction of the missiles. A few minutes later, England, Australia, and Germany went on high alert as well. Mike watched as more nations changed their readiness status. Shaking her head, Shirley said, "The whole world is watching this. I wonder who they are rooting for." Thirty minutes passed before there was another message announcing that twenty-eight missiles had been launched. As had happened earlier, messages announcing the destruction of the missiles scrolled past too fast to read. Watching the messages scroll past, Mike realized who was redirecting the messages to his location. He smiled at the thought that Sanjay was sharing the information with him. Noticing that Jim was picking up a phone, Mike said, "I wouldn't call any of the other locations. I doubt they are seeing what we are watching." Jim looked over at Mike and asked, "Are you telling me that we're the only ones seeing this?" "Us and the China bureau," Mike answered with a short nod of his head. "Why us?" "Well, I'm pretty sure that it is because of my position in Homeland Security," Mike answered dodging the question. "Oh," Shirley said looking at Mike puzzled. There was probably a lot more to the story than Mike was telling them. She knew that further questions would go unanswered. The message that all of the missiles had been destroyed showed up on the screen. The alert level was still at Red. A new alert message showed up that said that the red alert level was due to the launch of missiles by China, but that all missiles had been destroyed. Mike said, "That's the general alert message that's been sent to all of the Homeland Security locations." Charlie stared at the screen and said, "I've got to know what is going on there." Mike said, "We don't want to overload the system. Let the China folks deal with it." Shirley watched the situation board shaking her head. She said, "There's nothing on the news." "I doubt that it will show up for quite a while," Mike said. He figured the news would leak out from Europe, probably as an attack on the reputation of the United States. The afternoon passed very slowly. There were three more sets of missile launches. Everyone wondered about the American response to the launches, but there was no news about it. Mike looked down at his e-mail and noticed a message from Sanjay. Curious, he double-clicked on it. After reading it, he burst out laughing. Curious, everyone turned to look at him. They didn't find anything funny about the situation. When he didn't say anything, every one turned to Cathy and gestured towards Mike with their heads. Getting the hint, Cathy asked, "What's so funny?" Smiling, Mike looked around the room noticing that he was the center of attention. He said, "I just got an e-mail with a copy of President Archer's official response to the Chinese." "What was it?" "President Archer sent an e-mail to the Premier asking if he was having technical problems with his missiles," Mike answered. He looked up at the board and saw that there was an additional announcement of another round missile launches. He wondered how many more the Chinese had in their stockpile. He thought back to the discussion with the Admiral thinking that the man had clearly understated the effectiveness of the laser systems. When the notice that all of the missiles had been destroyed appeared on the screen, he picked up the telephone and dialed Sanjay's number. When Sanjay answered, he said, "This is Mike. Thanks for including us in the feed." "I thought you might want to know what was happening considering our discussion with the President," Sanjay said. Mike could imagine Sanjay's head bobbling on the other end of the line. Smiling, he said, "I do appreciate it. I won't keep you from your work any longer." "That's okay. We're doing nothing here except watching the action," Sanjay said. He was silent for a minute and then asked, "Are you up to going fishing this weekend?" "I'd love to go fishing, but I'll have to ask Cathy," Mike answered unaware of the smirks on everyone's faces in the room. Cathy had the grace to blush. Sanjay laughed and said, "Smart man." ------- Later that evening, Mike was alone at the Internet Café going through surveillance videos looking for terrorists. It had been months since he had found one and he was beginning to think that they had gotten them all. He pulled up the terrorist watch list and scanned the names on it. Selecting the most dangerous of them, he read the biography of the Abdul ibn Yuusuf in the hope that it would give him a clue as to where he might be hiding. It was a very interesting story. The man had been raised in Israel in a Muslim section of Jerusalem. He had attended school with Jews and had graduated near the top of his class. He went on to study chemistry at Columbia University in New York City although he had lived in Jersey City, New Jersey. After graduation, he had gone to Casablanca, Morocco where he had worked with Saad al- Houssaini, also known as the Chemist. After reading what the man had done with his chemical knowledge, Mike said, "You're a dangerous bastard." Mike studied the pictures of the man trying to imagine how he could change his appearance to escape notice. An idea came to him and he scrolled up through the biography to reread a section of it. Shaking his head, he said, "He wouldn't. He would." Mike, with his two-fingered typing, entered the command to identify the surveillance cameras in the Williamsburg district of Brooklyn. He tapped into the archived tapes and ran the face recognition program. It took an hour and a half, but there was a match for Abdul ibn Yuusuf with a high confidence level. Mike pulled up the section of video and stared at the man walking down the street. Sitting back in his chair, he said, "You sneaky bastard. You moved into a Jewish neighborhood where your Semitic features would allow you to pass as Jewish." Mike picked up the phone and dialed the Chief of Police. When the phone was answered, he said, "This is Mike Bowman from Homeland Security. I need to speak to the Chief of Police." "Let me get him, sir," the woman replied. Mike could hear her say, "Chief, it's the Hunter. It sounds like he found another one." When the Chief picked up the phone, Mike asked, "Why did she call me the Hunter?" "Dr. Bowman, you have a reputation for finding the worst of the worst. At the National Conference of Mayors and Police Chiefs, one of the speakers referred to you as the Hunter. It describes you very well," the man answered, "Did you find another one?" "Yes, I did and you're not going to believe where he is hiding," Mike answered rather surprised by the reputation that he had acquired. ------- The world held its collective breath waiting for the response by the United States to the attack by China. After twenty-four hours passed without a reaction from the country, the tension in diplomatic circles had reached very high levels. After forty-eight hours, the governments of quite a few countries were really sweating in the belief that the American response was going to be massive since it took so long for it to act. It took China thirty hours to admit to the powerbrokers in the Middle East that they had failed. It took less than an hour for news of the failure to echo throughout the Middle East. This was another setback in the Jihad against America. There had been a long line of failures ever since President Archer had stepped into office and this was clearly the worst. For a radical element that thought Allah was on its side, this was a major blow. Inside the halls of government in China, there was absolute chaos. The Premier was furious at the failure of the missiles to reach their targets. He had used the entire powerbase of the Communist Party to push through the attack knowing that if the oil supply stopped that it would be the Communist Party that fell rather than the State Government of China. It took the news services almost a hundred hours to learn that something of significance had occurred, but no one truly knew any of the details of what had happened. The reports suggested that somewhere between one and a hundred missiles had been launched. The explanations as to why the missiles had not reached the United States varied from a last minute send of a self-destruct code, a technical problem, and a missile defense system. Despite repeated questions about the incident by the press, President Archer only gave a crooked little smiled and said, "We are still considering our response." The interesting aspect of the entire episode was that little smile sent chills down the spines of world leaders everywhere. With everyone fully convinced that President Archer bordered on psychotic, that smile was interpreted as a direct threat. With visions of a nuclear winter settling over the globe, the President of China had the Premier arrested while trying to figure out what could be done to appease the United States. The President of China decided that the one thing he could do was to take care of the North Korean situation. The Communist Party members had not wanted to remove a loyal Communist from power there and had done everything in their power to prevent a real resolution to the tensions between North Korea and the United States. He did not know that was exactly what the analysts in the China Section of Homeland Security had predicted he would do. The President of the United States wasn't going to say a word to China until North Korea had a different leader. ------- Feeling in the mood for an ice cream sundae, Mike called over to Kim, "I'm thinking of going out for an ice cream. Are you interested in coming with me?" If there was one thing in the world that Kim Sung loved, it was ice cream. She was at the door in flash saying, "I'm ready to go." Mike chuckled and said, "All right." The pair of them went out to the car. It was still light out and people were outside taking advantage of the cooling temperatures. While Mike drove down the street, Kim looked around at the neighbors. Puzzled, she said, "There are a lot of women who are not wearing their tops." "Yes. I've noticed that," Mike said. "Why?" "They are telling the terrorists that they aren't afraid of them," Mike said. Kim was silent for a minute. They passed a topless woman who had to be eighty years old. She stared at the woman and said, "That is a very old woman. She is older than me." "Yes, she is," Mike said glancing in the direction that Kim was looking. They arrived at the ice cream parlor. It was a little store on the corner of a strip mall. There were two tables inside, but most people stood around outside eating their cones. There was a small crowd outside and a long line inside. Many of the women were standing around topless. Mike looked at them and said, "I'm sorry. Would you rather go somewhere else?" "Why?" "I'm sure there's a place where people are wearing clothes," Mike said. "Bah. I'm old woman. They have nothing I haven't seen thousands of times," Kim said. She looked at the ice cream store and said, "I want to try Rocky Road this time." ------- Chapter 36 There was a sudden coup in North Korea. Weapons supplied by China had found their way into the hands of a large number of people who were tired of being hungry and living without electricity. After the initial fighting between government forces and citizens had died down, the Chinese government stepped in and established an interim government. Even the Chinese soldiers were shocked by the conditions in North Korea. Three weeks had passed since the attempted missile attack on the United States. Throughout that time, the American Embassy in Beijing had not accepted any calls from the Chinese government. Thus it was that the President of China was shocked when a message requesting his presence at the Embassy showed up on his desk. After arguing with his advisors, the President of China made the trip to the American Embassy. He was greeted at the gate by a Marine and directed to a little room just inside the building. On entering, he found that he was not facing the Ambassador, but some strange man who he had never met. The man rose and greeted the President of China with undue familiarity. "Hello. I'm glad you could make it." "Where's the Ambassador?" The man answered, "He's unavailable until you've met certain conditions." Convinced that he wasn't going to like what the little man was going to say, the President asked, "What are they?" Handing the President of China a small stack of folded papers, the man answered, "We know it was the Premier who ordered that the missiles be fired at us. We would like you to extradite him to the United States to stand trial. The details concerning the delivery of the man to us are in those papers." The President of China looked at the papers in his hand and sighed. He asked, "What else?" "That's all," the little man said with a smile. China had already carried out the one thing that the United States had really wanted from it. He escorted the President of China to the door and said, "Thank you for coming here." "I'll deliver the former Premier to your country," the President said surprised by the leniency of the American demands. If the circumstances had been reversed he doubted that he would have been that lenient. Curious, he asked, "What would have happened if I had refused?" "I'd rather not answer that question. I really dislike talking about ugly things," the man answered with a sinister looking smile. ------- Mike walked into the house with Cathy. She was giggling at what she had seen on the drive over to his house. There was an elderly couple down the street that had been chasing each other around their yard. The old woman had been topless and her breasts were flopping all over the place. Smiling, she said, "I can't believe that your neighbors are out in their garden like that." "People aren't doing that in your neighborhood?" Mike asked. "They are, but they are all a lot younger than your neighbors," Cathy said. She turned away from the door and came to a complete stop upon seeing the two massage tables side by side in the living room. Kim stood between the tables and, using the voice, said, "Get undressed and get on the tables." Both obeyed without argument. Cathy said, "I wish that I could bottle that voice." "You and me both," Mike said as he lay down on his back. Kim went over to Mike and started massaging his face. Within ten minutes, he was sound asleep as Kim worked on his muscles. Once she had finished with his front, Kim went over to Cathy and said, "Relax. He will sleep until I end the massage. I will finish with you first." It amazed Cathy that Kim knew exactly where each knot and tense spot was. The strong fingers of the woman worked at each spot slowly releasing the tension. Cathy found that she was soon asleep under the soothing touch of Kim. She woke and less than a minute later she reached a brain numbing climax. "Oh my," Cathy said with a shaky voice. "You watch him. I show you magic spot on man," Kim said turning to Mike. She had him turn over and went to work on his back. Cathy watched as Kim worked on various muscle groups. She could actually see the how Kim ran her hands across his back and then returned to work on little areas with her thumbs. Mike was putty in her hands. After working every muscle from head to toe, Kim woke Mike just enough to turn over. With very light strokes, she ran her hands up and down his body. She took special care around the insides of his thighs. Still asleep, Mike spread his legs. Kim leaned over to Cathy and whispered, "Watch." Cathy watched wondering what the big deal about the hand job was. Cathy could see that he was on the verge of an orgasm when Kim did something rather surprising to him. Shocked, Mike sat up wide eyed. His come sprayed almost to his head as he shouted, "Oh my God!" It was hard not to laugh at his reaction. Cathy could see that he had no idea of what Kim had planned for him. Kim looked over at Cathy and asked, "Did you see what I did?" "Yes," Cathy answered finding that her heart was beating fast. "Good. Do that to him when you take him in your mouth. He will do anything you say," Kim said as if Mike wasn't even in the room. Mike was staring at Kim wondering why she had done that to him with Cathy watching. Wondering how long it would take for his eyes to uncross, Cathy asked, "Did you like that?" "Uh," Mike answered flustered by the entire experience. "Good answer," Cathy said with a smile. Seeing that he was somewhat upset, she said, "She did the same thing to me, but you slept through it." Pointing in the direction of Mike's bedroom, Kim said, "Go to bed and have fun. You both relaxed enough to have very good time." ------- Mike looked across the desk at James Wentworth the Third. In a very soft voice, he said, "I'm tired of the killing." "I'm not surprised. There has been a lot of that," James said watching Mike as he struggled to find the right words to say. Mike's answer was not what he had been expecting to hear when he had offered the man the chance to take over the Middle East Section. "I'd like to return to the domestic counter-terrorism section," Mike said. Knowing that Mike had basically dismantled the remaining terror leadership in the United States, James seriously considered the request. The problem was that there wasn't much left for Mike to do there. Shaking his head, James asked, "Your teams are doing a great job. I'd love to have your guidance as we move closer to the primary source of terrorism." "You can get along without me. There are others who are just as good as or better than I am," Mike said giving a little shrug of his shoulders. He didn't believe that he was indispensable. "You were the one who found Jamal," James said. "That was luck," Mike said with a dismissive shrug of his shoulders. James studied Mike and then asked, "Did you know that in certain circles you have become known as the Hunter because of your ability to find terrorists?" "I heard that," Mike answered shifting in his chair. James considered his options. He asked, "What will you work on if I return you to the domestic side of the house? There's not much going on there." "I'll track down the hundred most wanted terrorists that remain," Mike answered. He rubbed the nub of his left middle finger and then said, "I'm very good at that." James thought about it for a minute. He knew that Mike wasn't going to take over the Middle East Section. Although things were quiet in the Asian Pacific region, there was always the chance that things would flare up again. He decided that a compromise was needed. He suggested, "How about you stay with the Asian Section? It is not very active at the moment. You and your team can spend half of your time hunting down the big players in the Muslim Brotherhood. You'll have access to the whole world. In fact, I'll make that a general policy that all individuals can look for the top one hundred terrorists during intelligence lulls." Mike thought about the suggestion. He felt that if he was able to take out the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood that it would speed the peace process along quite a bit. The real problem was that they didn't know too much about the men who were really running the show. He was convinced that none of the Western intelligence services even knew who the top men in the Muslim Brotherhood were. He finally answered, "I'll do it." "Great," James said rising from behind his desk. He reached across the desk with his hand and said, "I expect to hear about some spectacular catches, Hunter." ------- Karen walked over to Mike on unsteady feet and said, "Unk." Mike grinned and picked up the little girl. Giving her a little hug, he asked, "How's my favorite niece?" Karen cooed and sucked her thumb. Sanjay laughed and said, "She sure does enjoy your visits." "They grow up so fast," Mike said enjoying her attention. Sanjay's other two daughters barely gave him the time of day, but Karen always came over to greet him when he visited. "So when are you going to marry Cathy?" Sanjay asked. He knew that Mike found spending time with Karen was a bittersweet experience. He enjoyed playing with the little girl, but it reminded him of how much he missed having Robert in his life. The question startled Mike and he answered, "I don't know." Sanjay shook his head and said, "You might want to start thinking about it. The women are making plans." Mike blew a raspberry on Karen's tummy causing her to laugh. Looking over at Sanjay, he said, "The only plans that I'm interested in at the moment involves firing up the barbecue grill and cooking some steaks." Several hours later, Mike and Sanjay were watching the news while recovering from a very nice steak dinner. Both were drinking scotch and making comments about the different news stories while the women were in the dining room drinking coffee. Mike commented, "I noticed something about the nature of the cable news stations the other day. It seems to me that the coverage of international news constitutes almost eighty percent of the news time." "I noticed that," Sanjay said bobbling his head in agreement. The local cable company had even started broadcasting the news from other countries with translations provided by subtitles. He said, "I think that all of the fighting here has made people aware of the fact that events overseas can affect them." "Yes. At least we aren't bombarded with news stories about ill behaving Hollywood types any more," Mike said relieved that hours of discussion about the misadventures of decadent female celebrities had been replaced with real news. He found it irritating that news about men dying for their country could be displaced by a story about some actress giving the Paparazzi a beaver shot while getting out of her car. "I know what you mean. I never understood the fascination with celebrity that dominated American news," Sanjay said. Despite his conscious attempt to fit in with Americans, there were still some aspects of the American culture that he didn't understand. "To tell the truth, neither did I," Mike said. He took a sip of his scotch impressed with the quality of drink that Sanjay stocked in his house. "Really?" Mike nodded his head and said, "A lot of people think that there is one American culture, but there isn't one. There are all kinds of subcultures, each of which has a special interest. I never understood the Hollywood crowd and fandom. I've never understood the Born Again Christians." "So I'm not the only one who is confused by that," Sanjay said feeling a little relieved. He glanced at the television and said, "It looks like things are heating up in India." The news was covering the arrival of American Military advisors in New Delhi. The government of India believed the American intelligence concerning the plans by the Muslim extremists to overthrow the government. It was actually pretty safe to say that the historical tensions between Hindus and Muslims predisposed the Indian government to expect the worst of Muslims. Mike nodded his head and listened to the news story. He noticed his father emerging from one of the airplanes in which American troops were being discharged. He wasn't exactly surprised to see his father. His mother had told him that his father had been assigned as the lead military advisor in India. He said, "At least we were invited to fight in India." "I'm not surprised. There is a long history of tension in India between Muslims and Hindus. Even Gandhi couldn't come to an accommodation with the Muslims. Pakistan was created because Gandhi couldn't convince the Muslims to support a unified India," Sanjay said. Shaking his head, Mike said, "You know, I had forgotten that." Sanjay said, "It makes you think. If Gandhi couldn't negotiate with radical Muslims, then who can?" ------- Mike stepped into one of the former Internet Cafes that he oversaw and was taken aback by the way everyone turned to look at him. It was as if they were surprised to see him. Suspicious, he asked, "What?" "I read in the paper this morning that you had been shot," Eric said looking confused. "What?" Mike asked. "It says in here that Mike Bowman was shot while going to meet an informant," Susan said holding up a newspaper clipping. She'd been on the telephone trying to learn more. Frowning, Mike held out his hand for the article. He glanced over the basic text of the article. The amount of information was pretty limited. It appeared that Mike Bowman had gotten a call at his house late the previous evening asking him to come down to the parking lot of a mall for information about a crime that was being planned. He was found wounded and unconscious several hours later by a mall security guard making his rounds. Frowning, Mike said, "I know this guy." "There are two of you?" Eric asked wondering if it was safe to make a joke about that being two too many. He bit his tongue. While the political correctness constraints had lessened, there was no sense in making the boss angry. Mike nodded his head and answered, "Yes there are. Unfortunately for the other Mike Bowman, I'm the one with the unlisted telephone number." A number of people had read the article about Mike Bowman being shot with concern. Although Mike was unaware of it, Kim had fielded close to thirty phone calls and assured everyone that Mike had not been shot the previous night. The first call had been confusing, but by the third call Kim had come up with a pat answer. ------- Mike returned to his primary office to find an envelope from the White House on his desk. He opened the envelope and read the message inside. Looking at the sheet of paper, he smiled and said, "It's about time." "What?" Shirley asked. Mike said, "They are having a ceremony for the rededication of the CIA Memorial Wall. I've been invited to participate in the ceremony." Everyone who had worked for the CIA clapped their hands on hearing the news. Although it wasn't widely discussed, many of the former CIA analysts felt that they had been shafted by the lack of action concerning the Memorial Wall. Too many of their friends had died as a result of that attack and their passing had gone unnoticed. Mike read the end of the invitation and said, "There will be open seating for any who may want to attend. I suggest that everyone who used to work for the CIA take the day off." Shirley nodded her head in agreement. She had been one of the women who had covered her mouth and nose with her shirt. Terrified at breathing germs or radioactive material, she had run around with her breasts on display for everyone to see. It wasn't until she had gotten away from the building that she had finally covered herself. Stripping and getting scrubbed with a stiff bristle brush in front of strangers had been painful and humiliating. She had cried through the entire experience. She said, "That day is etched into my memory. I'll never forget it. Going through decontamination was the most humiliating experience of my life." "You were a lot better off doing that than going home to wash," Mike said. "There's no way I would have gone home and spread it to the kids. I go to the doctor every six months to get checked for cancer. No mother would ever put their kids in the position where they would have to do that," Shirley replied. Others in the office nodded their heads in sympathy. Those who had worked for the NSA or in the Pentagon understood exactly what she was saying. Everyone who had been through that experience knew the fears that she was expressing. Mike shook his head and said, "I think that it is sometimes easier to face a bullet than cancer." "That's true when you can shoot back," Tim said. ------- Officer Mike Bowman woke in a hospital bed listening to the soft beep of the monitoring equipment. It was his third day in the hospital and he was feeling much better. He looked around and spotted his wife sitting in a chair by the bed. Seated next to his wife was another man. It took him a moment to recognize the man as the one he had seen kill the terrorist at the mall. He had a feeling that the man's presence was not good news. In a weak voice, he said, "Who are you?" "My name is Mike Bowman." "Who are you?" Mike asked again not believing the answer. Mike rose and went over to the bedside. Holding out his Homeland Security ID, he answered, "I'm Mike Bowman and I have a few questions for you." "Oh, God," Mike said with a groan. He didn't want to go through the events of that night again. So far, he had repeated the story a dozen times and each time it sounded less credible. "I need to know exactly what happened to you." "It's a very short story. I got a call from someone telling me that they had information about a pending terrorist attack and that I should meet them at the third level parking entrance to the Center Mall. I parked my car and went over to the entrance. There wasn't anyone around. About the time I reached the door, someone shot me," Mike said. "Did you recognize the voice?" "No." "Did you see who shot you?" "No." "Did you see anything suspicious while you were at the mall?" "No. There was no one there. I looked around and saw nothing and then I was shot." He shrugged his shoulders knowing that the questions would turn to why someone would want to kill him. He said, "I've got no idea why anyone would want to kill me." Mike took a seat in a chair by the bed. Crossing his legs, he said, "I fear they may have been after me." "Why?" "That is a very good question and I'm trying to answer it." Mike looked over at the other Mike and asked, "Who are you?" "I'm an analyst in Homeland Security. Occasionally, I get involved in events as they unfold. I guess that I've earned a reputation with the enemy as being one of their greatest threats," Mike answered. He didn't know how they learned about him, but he suspected that his time spent tracking down terrorists might have had a bit to do with it. "It is kind of hard to believe that there are two Mike Bowmans running around," Mike said from his hospital bed. "Some folks would say that is one too many," Mike said. Officer Bowman looked over at his wife and said, "I guess that I'm going to have to be a little more careful from now on." Mike's wife didn't look very happy. That was because she wasn't happy. The past three days had been the worst of her life and she never wanted to go through that experience again. Mike said, "I think it was an amateur homegrown terrorist who tried to kill you. A professional would have known how to contact me. You ought to be glad that it was an amateur. A professional would have made sure that you were dead before leaving the area." A chill went down Officer Bowman's back at the thought of what could have happened. He asked, "You classify terrorists into professionals and amateurs?" "You might say that. We've been watching the ones who've gone through real training and they are much more dangerous than the homegrown individual acting on his own," Mike answered. He sighed and said, "I think you might want to get an unlisted telephone number." "I guess I better," Mike said. He looked at the other Mike Bowman for a second and then said, "I have to know. What were you doing at the mall that day?" "I was looking for my wife and son." "Did you find them?" As his eyes threatened to tear up, Mike answered, "Yes, but it was too late." Hearing the anguish in his voice, Mike's wife said, "I'm sorry to hear that." Mike stared off into space for a moment and then said, "I'll be going now. I'll let you know when I've learned more about the attack on you." "Thanks." "By the way, officially I wasn't here today," Mike said with a grim smile. He hadn't cleared his involvement with anyone considering it a personal matter rather than an official investigation. "Somehow I had a feeling that you were going to say that." Mike left the hospital wondering how difficult it would be to track down the man who had shot Officer Bowman. He wondered how much time he would have to devote to the matter. Things were heating up between India and Pakistan and if it bust loose then he'd be tied up for weeks. ------- Chapter 37 Many countries had individuals under surveillance who were suspected of being terrorists. Treating terrorism as a crime, they were patiently waiting to acquire sufficient evidence that a crime had taken place before arresting them. In many of the European countries, evidence from outside the country was not deemed sufficient since it was often viewed as hearsay. Thus, even if it was believed that the individual had participated in training camps inside Afghanistan or Pakistan, the individual would not be arrested. In too many cases, the evidence necessary to make an arrest was not available until after people had been killed. It was hard for the leadership and populace of civilized countries to view the terrorists as members of a standing army within their borders waiting for orders to attack. They did not wear uniforms or dog tags. They did not have membership cards. It was a stealth army. Until the orders came, there were no real violations of law. This situation frustrated many members of law enforcement across all of Europe. It was difficult for someone who swore to uphold the law to sit by while someone they knew was a terrorist was planning to kill a lot of their fellow citizens. The public at large in the civilized countries insisted that due process be followed. It should be noted that with each suicide bombing there was a small but growing faction that started arguing for the American approach to dealing with terrorists. The main problem was that the United States wasn't waiting for due process. Once sufficient evidence had been found that the individual had committed or supported an act of terrorism against America anywhere in the world, the individual was taken out in the most expedient manner possible. It didn't seem to matter to the Americans if they were violating international boundaries in the process. Needless to say, this offended politicians to their very core. European law enforcement officials, at least those who had contacts with their counterparts in America, started slipping information to the Americans. Suddenly, suspected terrorists were dying when missiles took out the buildings in which they were living. As European politicians shouted in outrage that America was attacking people within their borders, the police and intelligence agencies were quietly celebrating. Despite growing political pressures to isolate the United States, an unofficial pipeline of intelligence data grew. Nowhere was the tension between politicians and law enforcement greater than in Belgium. Part of the problem was the change in demographics in Belgium. In 2002, Muslims had accounted for approximately 4% of the population. In the decade leading up to 2012, the Muslim population in Belgium had exploded to the point where it comprised 20% of the population with the majority of the population living in Brussels. Representation within the government was nearly at parity with the size of the population despite the fact that almost 75% of the Muslims were not citizens. There were entire neighborhoods where the people did not bother to learn Dutch. Mosques held services in Arabic although Belgium law required that Mosques receiving state moneys hold services in Dutch. Authorities within law enforcement knew that a coup attempt was being planned by individuals within the Schaerbeek district of Brussels. They had recorded many sermons in which radical Imams had been calling for a take over of the government for the establishment of a true Muslim state in Europe. They knew that young men were answering the call. They believed that there were training camps in neighborhoods where a non-Muslim had no chance of passing unnoticed. At 2:00 on a pleasant summer afternoon, Islamic fundamentalists made their move in Belgium. Muslims working inside government agencies turned on their coworkers and took control in a bloodbath of murder. An army of Muslims headed towards the seat of government armed with weapons that had been smuggled into the country. Chaos erupted in every part of the city. Initially, the Belgium military was paralyzed as a result of political interference. All attempts to lay plans for such circumstances had been sternly halted in the past and now, faced with the unthinkable, they had to improvise. Unwilling to drop bombs within their own capitol, the military approached the city with guns only to find their way blocked by children who were chained across streets. From behind the children, terrorists fired upon the soldiers. Police, both Federal and Local, were not sufficiently armed to take on an army of highly trained troops carrying automatic weapons. Although Belgium did not have overly strict gun laws, there was less than one gun per ten people. Honest citizens trying to protect themselves with clubs found they were facing men armed with automatic rifles. It was no contest. The government was about to fall and no one knew what to do to stop it. The Islamic Fundamentalists allowed or, in some cases, forced the news services to broadcast the coup. They wanted to show the world that Islam was regaining its former glory. It was to serve two purposes. One was to show the world that it was powerless to stop the march of Islam while the other was to recruit new followers. At 3:15 that same day, GPS guided fuel-air explosive bombs started exploding over Muslim neighborhoods taking out entire city blocks. It wasn't just one or two of those powerful bombs that fell. It was several dozen bombs that took out entire districts of the city. In less than ten minutes, the Muslim population of Belgium fell to 3% of the population. Of course, half of the city of Brussels was on fire. By 4:00, Belgium was in total chaos. The recognized leadership of the country had been killed during the coup. The Muslims who had moved in to take over were running loose within the city, but their army of recruits and civilian support was dead as a result of the American actions. As flames fed on the city, law enforcement was busy battling individual terrorists in the street while American missiles were taking out major pockets of resistance. The demoralized remaining members of the Belgium military reached the city and took out the minor pockets of resistance. Belgium law enforcement was divided in its opinion of the events that had unfolded. They had done everything they could to prevent the situation from ever occurring. The political types had overruled them at every turn. They appreciated the help from America in stopping the coup, but wished it had come earlier. They knew that America had tried to warn the politicians and had been rebuked. The Belgium public was stunned by the sequence of events. They had seen their leadership killed on television. They had seen heads chopped off with swords in the halls of government. They had seen their neighbors die in the streets. It was impossible not to question how the situation had gotten to that point. The answer pointed directly at the primary victim of the coup — the government itself. The rest of Europe had watched the coup take place in a state of shock. The leadership of Europe was paralyzed by the brutality of the radicals and shocked at the overwhelming response of the Americans. There was one point that no one could argue; Belgium had done nothing to trigger the coup, the Islamic Radicals had acted first, and the Americans had ended it. Complicating their reaction was that many asked why the Americans waited until after the coup had essentially succeeded rather than save the Belgium government by acting earlier. ------- At the same time that Belgium was burning, Tim looked around nervously while seated at the conference table. He felt guilty about what he was going to request, but the subject was a little too near and dear to his heart to ignore. Finally, he said, "I need your help. I want to get transferred to the African Section, but they won't take me without your recommendation." The request caught Mike a little by surprise. Almost without thinking, he asked, "Why do you want to transfer to the African Section?" "I grew up hearing stories about how members of my family had been slaves before the civil war. It may have been many generations ago, but my family wasn't going to allow any of us kids to forget it. My grandmother used to tell stories about what her grandmother went through when she was a slave. I found my mother telling my children those stories the other day. "What is happening right now in Africa really bothers me. I can't sleep at night thinking about how people are being taken to the Middle East as slaves. I feel that I have to do something," Tim said looking down at his hands to avoid having to look at Mike. He felt disloyal to the man. "I can understand that," Mike said nodding his head. He imagined that most Blacks felt that way about the situation in Africa. Tim said, "I don't want you to think that I'm being disloyal to you. You've been the best manager I've ever worked for. It is just that slavery really pushes some of my buttons." "I don't blame you. I'll make a call and see what I can do about getting you over there," Mike said. "I appreciate it," Tim said rising from his chair. He went to the door and started to open it. "Tim," Mike said realizing that Tim was the first of his team members to request a transfer. Tim turned to look at Mike and asked, "What?" "Because of you, our section is pretty quiet. You made a real difference here. We couldn't have achieved what we have done without you. Think about it. We've destroyed the terrorist network here in the states. We cleaned up the Philippines, Indonesia, Taiwan, and Thailand. I think you'll make a difference over in the African Section," Mike said. "Thanks," Tim said standing a little straighter at the compliment. Smiling at him, Mike said, "I expect to hear great things about you." ------- Mike pulled into the driveway at home narrowly avoiding a collision with the rear of Cathy's car. His attention had been diverted by the sight of Cathy, Ellen, and Kim having a discussion in Ellen's front yard. It wasn't so much that they were talking as the fact that all three of them were topless. He parked the car and got out. It wasn't until then that he noticed Bob standing off to the side looking around as if afraid of being caught staring at Cathy or Kim. Bob headed over in his direction thankful at having someone with whom he could talk. As he approached, he said, "Hello Mike." "Hello Bob," Mike said looking over at Cathy. There had been a time when he would have gotten very angry if a girlfriend of his had gone outside topless like that. Noticing the direction in which Mike was looking, Bob said, "It takes a little getting used to, doesn't it?" "I guess I'm not used to the idea of women running around topless," Mike said. It wasn't exactly as erection inspiring as he had thought it would be. A lot of the older women tended to have breasts with considerable sag. "I know what you mean. When Ellen first mentioned that she wanted to do it, I was against it. She wants to show the world that she is an American woman and proud of it," Bob said. Like many husbands across the country, he finally capitulated to her desire to go topless. "I guess. Although to me, it looks more like a scene out of National Geographic than out of Harpers Magazine," Mike said. He looked over at the three topless women and asked, "So what is really motivating them?" Bob shrugged his shoulders and said, "I don't know what triggered it, but one day Ellen decided that she had come very close to having to give up her faith and having to wear a Burka for the rest of her life. The idea that to live she would have to become a Muslim angered her." Despite having watched as Ellen struggled to cope with the threat of terrorism, Mike still didn't know what would have motivated her to bare her breasts to the world. He asked, "What convinced her that she was going to have to convert to Islam?" Bob paused for a moment before he answered, "That speech by Mohammad bin Laden sacred the hell out of her, but I think it was the day when they had that big battle up in Jersey City and all of the non-Muslims were killed that made it all real to her. Of course, it could have been the day when we saw the news report that showed all of those Africans getting led away to be sold as slaves in the Riyadh slave market. I think that is about the time when she decided that the terrorists didn't see us as people, but as objects that they could own. She realized that the only chance of surviving if the terrorists won was to become a Muslim and the idea of that sickened her." "I guess that would be a pretty scary realization," Mike said feeling rather uncertain about the connection between those events and baring breasts. He had watched the topless rebellion from the beginning, but didn't understand it at all. "I didn't quite believe it until I had talked to you. You echoed what she was telling me when you said that she was liable to end up a slave and I was liable to end up dead if the terrorists won," Bob said. Mike wondered how many other women had come to that conclusion. Judging by the number of women running around topless, he decided that it was quite a few. He said, "I still don't understand what prompted her to go topless." Bob answered, "She kept watching other women proclaim that an American Woman wouldn't submit to Islamic law that required them to cover up with a Burka. Ellen decided that she would rather die than submit to Allah's law. She says that going topless is her way of announcing to the world her decision." ------- Mike was reclining in the bathing pond with his eyes closed while listening to some soothing music. He had spent the past two days reviewing surveillance tapes from the mall trying to locate the shooter. It had been brain numbing watching videos from the hundreds of cameras that were covering the area. The detective who had given him the tapes had warned him that there wasn't anything to see, but Mike was thorough. Before coming home that evening, he had stopped by the mall to check out the possible locations from which the shots might have been fired. It was at that point where he found the first discrepancy between the tapes and the site. One of the tapes had captured the barest outline of a construction crane in the dark. The crane was not at the site when Mike visited it. He was going to go back and request tapes capturing the area in the day time. Sighing, he tried to work some of the tension out of his neck. The sound of someone entering the pond caused him to open his eyes. Expecting to find Cathy, he was surprised that it was Kim. The woman sat down across from him and said, "I'm going to relax for a few minutes and then I expect you to make long passionate love after we get out of the water." Unable to believe what he had heard, Mike said, "Excuse me?" "I expect you to make long passionate love to me after we get out of here," Kim said looking Mike in the eye. She didn't want there to be any doubt about what she was asking him to do. "I don't feel comfortable doing that," Mike said trying to be gentle. He didn't want to offend or insult Kim, but he wasn't interested in her in that way. "Why?" she asked in a demanding tone of voice. Mike held up his hands in an attempt to placate Kim and said, "I'm in a relationship with Cathy." "You going to marry her?" Kim asked in a matter of fact manner. "I don't know," Mike answered. "Then you can make long passionate love to me every night until you decide to marry her. Do me like you do it with her," Kim said. "I wouldn't feel right about doing that," Mike said. He didn't even feel all that comfortable about the happy endings to his massages. "Why?" "Because I'm in a relationship with Cathy," Mike answered. Kim shook her head and said, "It must not be much of a relationship if you don't know if you want to marry her. Maybe you would rather fuck me before you make long passionate love to me." "I love her," Mike said. Kim smiled at the admission and asked, "Then why haven't you asked her to marry you?" "I don't know," Mike answered wondering how they were suddenly talking about marriage. Shaking her head, Kim said, "I know because I am old woman." "Why?" Kim said, "Because you are a man. Men are very stupid when it comes to women. They don't know when it is time to ask woman to marry them. It is long past time you ask Cathy to marry you." "Oh," Mike said staring at Kim. "You get dressed and go to Cathy. Ask her to marry you." "Uh," Mike stammered. Kim said, "Go!" She had used the voice, but Mike didn't move. It was remembering that it was likely that someone out there was trying to kill him that made him pause. He looked at her and said, "You're serious." "Very. You need Cathy in your life to make you complete," Kim said. She found it a little sad that he didn't really need her. She took comfort in the knowledge that Cathy would need her. There was no way that he was going to get married until he had taken care of the threat to his life. Mike leaned his head back on the stone and closed his eyes. In a quiet voice, he said, "When I ask her, it will not be a spur of the moment decision." With a very satisfied expression on her face, Kim sat back in the pool and said, "See. You know that you want to marry her. Foolish man requires old woman to show him what he already knows." ------- It took Mike almost a full day to find an image of a man approaching the crane that had been parked by the mall. He had gone through the images captured from the security cameras of three dozen businesses scattered around the mall. The image was not as bad as most since it had been stored on a DVR rather than a VHS tape, but the man was too far from the camera to make out much detail. It was obvious by his actions that he was scouting the location for the attempt on Mike Bowman's life later that night. Every attempt to get sufficient detail from the recording to be able to automate a search for the man failed. Nighttime videos from the same cameras didn't show anything other than dark on dark. Everyone in the office had occasionally turned to watch him hard at work wondering what he was doing. They had assumed that he was trying to locate one of the terrorists on the most wanted list, but the scope of the investigation looked too focused to be that. Finally it was Charlie who asked, "What are you doing?" "I'm trying to find a good image of the person who tried to assassinate Mike Bowman," Mike answered. Frowning, Charlie asked, "Why didn't you tell us what you were doing three days ago?" "This is personal," Mike said not wanting to explain his actions. He didn't have proof that he had been the real target. With a very angry expression on her face, Cathy crossed her arms and looked at Mike. In a voice that was hard enough to cut diamonds, she said, "You think that whoever shot the other Mike Bowman was trying to kill you, don't you?" "Yes," Mike said knowing that as soon as the word was out of his mouth that he had made a mistake. Cathy looked around the room and said, "You heard him, Ladies and Gentlemen. Someone tried to kill our boss. Are you going to sit there and let them get away with that?" Mike looked up at the sudden increase in noise level. Everyone had turned to their computers and was in the process of pulling up Mike's notes on the investigation. He rubbed his forehead at the idea of trying to explain this to Chip and said, "Folks, this is personal." "You can say that again," Shirley said receiving a nod of confirmation from Cathy. ------- The rededication ceremony for the CIA Memorial Wall was held in the Headquarters Conference Room on the old CIA grounds. Mike recalled the other two times he had been in 'the bubble.' The first time had been to listen to the previous President tell the analysts that their lives were about to get miserable. The second time had been to warn law enforcement about the rail gun. Now he was seated on the raised platform awaiting President Archer's arrival. He looked out across the audience and realized that very few of the men and women who had been present the day the Original Headquarters Building had been attacked were in attendance. He wondered how many of the absent people were too ill to attend. He knew how many had died. He spotted the woman who he had seen holding her shirt over her mouth and showing her Caesarian scar as she made her way out of the building. He smiled thinking that it was good that she had survived. James Wentworth the Third leaned over to Mike and said, "I was told this was your idea." "It wasn't my idea to put it in here," Mike replied looking around the room. "I think it is fitting, though," James said with a smile. "I guess. I don't have very good memories of this building," Mike said. Walking around on the grounds of the old CIA site had brought back some pretty bad memories. "Are you ready?" James asked. "No, but I'll do it just the same," Mike said. The butterflies in his stomach were definitely swarming. At a signal from the side, James said, "It's time for me to introduce the President." "Okay," Mike said. James went to the podium and cleared his throat. Looking around the room, he said, "We are gathered here to rededicate the CIA Memorial Wall that honors the individuals who worked for that fine organization and sacrificed their lives for this country. I know that for many individuals who lost friends, family, and coworkers on that horrible day that this ceremony is long overdue. I want everyone to know that the man who I am about to introduce wants everyone to see that American honors its heroes. He demanded that we give honor to those men and women by bringing the Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor out of their radioactive tomb and into the light. It gives me great pleasure to introduce the President of the United States, Anthony Archer." When 'Hail To The Chief' started playing, Mike stood up. He wasn't the only one in the room who stood when the President entered. President Archer walked to the podium and shook James's hand. James returned to his seat winking at Mike. President Archer waited for the music to end. He leaned over to the microphone and said, "The Director of Homeland Security has quite graciously given me credit for wanting to bring the Memorial Wall and the Book of Honor from out of their radioactive tomb. He gives me too much credit for this. I will admit that it was I who called him and demanded that it be brought out of the Original Headquarters Building and put in a place of honor. The fact is that I did not know that honoring our fallen had been slighted in such an egregious manner. If I had known, then it would have been the first thing that I would have done upon coming to office. "The fact that our country's leaders acted in such a dishonorable manner was brought to my attention by Mike Bowman. To say that I was dismayed to learn that no one had thought to honor our fallen heroes would be an understatement. There is no excuse for that." President Archer gestured to one of the walls and a cloth cover fell to the ground. He said, "There were two Memorial Walls inside that building. I asked that the Memorial Wall for the Office of Strategic Services be removed from inside the Old Headquarters building and placed here. There is just a single star upon that wall, but we must never forget any man who gave his life for this country." He gestured to another wall and another cloth cover fell. There was the CIA Memorial wall complete with stars for each person who had died in the attack. He said, "In a moment, Mike Bowman will read the names of the four hundred and three men and women who died as a result of the attack on the CIA Headquarters Building. Their names have been added to the Book of Honor and a star cut into that white marble for each of them." He gestured to a third wall and a third cloth cover fell to the ground. He said, "A third wall has been added as well. This is the wall for the Department Of Homeland Security. It was my greatest desire that it should never come to pass that a star ever had to mar that pristine marble surface. Alas, my desire went unfulfilled. As you can see, it contains nineteen stars for the men and women who've fallen in service to their country." President Archer turned to Mike Bowman and asked, "Mike, will you do us the service of reading the names of the men and women who fell the day that our intelligence services came under attack and since then so that we may honor them?" Mike stood and walked to the podium. Nodding his head, he said, "Yes, Mr. President. I am proud and honored to serve in that manner." Facing the audience, Mike began to read the names. ------- Chapter 38 The afternoon courier stopped by the office with a memo from headquarters for Mike. Opening the envelope, he read the memo with a frown. The Asian Sections were scheduled to begin moving to Texas in two months. Although he had been the one who had suggested distributing analysts around the country, the reality of it coming to pass bothered him. He had family and friends in the area that he would have to leave behind. He dropped the memo on his desk and looked around the room at the people who worked for him. Although everyone had known this day was coming, he wondered how they would react to the news. Putting off the delivery of the bad news would not accomplish anything. He turned to his computer and entered the command that would initiate a conference call among all of the offices that he oversaw. Everyone looked up from their computers when the three beeps announced that a conference call was being established. Usually that was a sign that something significant was happening that would require everyone's immediate attention. Fifteen seconds later, the screens at the front of the room showed all of the locations managed by Mike. Clearing his throat, Mike said, "First of all, let me tell everyone to relax. This is not an emergency." There were visible signs of relief as everyone sagged in their seats. He gave everyone a moment to regroup and said, "The reason I called is that I just received news that we'll begin moving to Texas in two months. I know that a lot of people have been concerned about this move and question the need for it. Let me just say that it was initiated at a time when we were clear targets of forces aligned against America. That situation doesn't seem as immanent today as it did then, but there are signs that others would like to harm us." Shirley said, "Like someone trying to kill you." "That hasn't been established as a fact, Shirley," Mike said turning to look at her. All attempts to locate a photograph of the assailant with sufficient detail to enable the face recognition software to recognize him had failed. The search had come to a complete dead end. Frustrated and angry, Cathy said, "Right. It is just a coincidence that another guy by the name of Mike Bowman gets called to a mall to find out about a potential terrorist attack and gets shot." "This isn't about me and my situation. This is about moving to Texas," Mike said putting a halt to the digression that was about to derail the conference call. He looked back at the monitors at the front of the room and said, "A complete schedule and an information packet describing the economic support for the move will be distributed to everyone by the end of the week." "What kind of support are we talking about?" "I'm not sure. I assume that it will be the same kind of package that you received when you first joined up. I imagine it will cover the costs associated with selling your house, packing up, moving, and buying a new house," Mike answered looking at the faces of everyone on the monitors. They didn't look all that pleased by the lack of real information in his answer. He understood their feelings. "When you find out, could you tell us?" "As of this minute, you know as much as I do. I suggest that we have another conference call late Friday after the information packets have been distributed. I might not have any answers, but I'll listen to your questions and take them to someone who might be able to answer them," Mike said. "That's a good idea." Smiling at the comment, Mike said, "Thanks. I'm glad to know that I occasionally have one of those." His reply produced the expected round of laughter. Getting a little more serious, he said, "I know this is going to be a major disruption in your lives. It is no less of a disruption in my life. After all, I have to pack up and move to Texas just like everyone else." His answer reminded them that he was going to share their problems. He said, "I don't want this move to disrupt our ability to operate effectively. Our work is important and a moment of inattention could have long lasting consequences. "I know that the move will require us to take care of personal matters during business hours when banks, insurance agents, realtors, and others are available. Take care of business when you have to, but don't abuse it. Make sure that someone is in place to cover your specific area of interest when you have to leave." ------- Mike held out his arms as Karen made her way to him. He picked her up and hugged her when she reached him. He said, "My goodness, you walk real good." "Unk," Karen said with a giggle. "You're such a big girl," Mike said as Karen toddled off. She returned half a minute later with her favorite toy and showed it to Mike. It was one of the stuffed animals he had given her. Mike said, "Oh my, that's such a pretty tiger." Standing off to the side, Cathy and Teva were watching Mike play with Karen. Cathy could feel her biological clock ticking and knew she was looking at the man she hoped would turn off the alarm before it rang. She whispered to Teva, "It's hard to believe how comfortable he is with kids." "He's a good man," Teva said grinning at Cathy. She understood exactly what the young woman was feeling. "Yeah," Cathy said feeling a little down. It seemed to her that the relationship with Mike was progressing in slow motion. Patting Cathy on the arm, Teva said, "Don't worry. He'll ask you to marry him." ------- Mike looked across the dinner table at his in-laws and said, "I got the news that I'll be moving to Texas in two months." Vincent didn't think there was anything unusual about having to move around for a job. He'd been stationed in a lot of different places over the course of his career. He did know that it was a little difficult leaving behind one area and moving to a new one. He said, "Although we knew that it was coming, I'm sorry to see the day arrive." Sally looked at Mike and said, "I hope that you're going to marry Cathy before you move. I'd really like to attend the ceremony." Mike fidgeted in his seat and said, "I don't know. Things are a little complicated at the moment." Sally raised an eyebrow and asked, "What is so complicated that you can't marry her?" "I'd rather not say," Mike answered. Rather than allowing Mike to duck the issue, Vincent asked, "It wouldn't have something to do with the fellow with your name getting shot, would it?" Throwing his hands up in the air, Mike admitted defeat. He answered, "Yes. It was just too coincidental for me to believe that they meant to get him and not me." "I thought so the minute that I read the news article," Vincent said. "We haven't found the man who attacked him," Mike said, "I'm not making any long term commitments until I know one way or the other. I don't want to leave a grieving widow behind." "I don't blame you," Vincent said. Sally rolled her eyes and said, "She isn't going to feel any better if you are killed before you get married than if you are killed after the ceremony." "I'm not sure of that," Mike said. Shaking her finger at him, Sally said, "My mother was a war bride. Lots of women marry men who are headed for danger without regretting the decision regardless of the outcome. Marry her." As if seeking her advice, Mike asked, "Should I ask her first?" Vincent laughed at the question. Sadly shaking her head, Sally answered, "No. You should club her over the head and drag her off by the hair like the caveman that you are." "Yes, ma'am," Mike said. Looking over at Vincent, he asked, "Admiral, you wouldn't happen to have a club lying around handy, would you?" "You can borrow the one I used on Sally," Vincent answered with a chuckle. His comment earned him a swat on the arm from his wife. ------- The terrorists inside Pakistan launched their attempt to over throw the government of India well before Homeland Security and the Military had predicted they would. The attempt was a huge failure despite the fact that it was early. Homeland Security was not taken by surprise. The group that was monitoring the situation spotted the signs early enough to activate the preplanned response. When the terrorists inside India went to collect their weapons, the warehouses blew up taking thousands of the terrorists with them. Massive raids led by police and military around the country rounded up hundreds of thousands of men who had planned to participate in the coup. Although the arrests of people involved in the plot had taken the plotters by surprise, the number of military types involved in the raids convinced the forces inside Pakistan that it was time to invade. It seemed like a very good decision on their part. The order was given for the Pakistan military to move ahead. Pakistani forces, consisting of over a million men, boiled over the border. They were accompanied by an equal number of Iranian forces. They had gone ten miles into India when they suddenly found that they were facing the American military rather than the Indian forces they had been expecting. It was a total shock as were the events that followed. The news services had covered the arrival of some military advisors, but not the arrival of a hundred thousand members of the US Army, Marines, and Air Force. Few of the soldiers there even carried guns. The majority of them were technicians with a small force of armed men to provide protection. It had to be admitted that the Americans had brought a pitifully small force for a conventional war, but the Americans weren't there to fight in a conventional manner. The response to the first bullet fired in the direction of the American forces was overwhelming. The initial clash turned into a rout with more than half of the invaders left dead or wounded on the battlefield in the first five minutes of the engagement. The invading army retreated behind the border expecting the American forces to stop. The handful of tanks and helicopters of the American forces didn't even slow down at the border. They didn't have to slow down; they had no targets to delay them. Ahead of the tanks and helicopters were tens of thousands of smart bombs called Pigeons that picked their own targets. Although the amount of explosives carried by any single Pigeon was small, the group behavior destroyed any form of resistance. The results were even more spectacular when one of them would explode in a weapons storage area. If the Pigeons couldn't destroy a target, they sent back data for a cruise missile to be sent to the target. The technicians had launched a massive wave of destruction unparalleled in history. Once it was clear that the invading force had been destroyed, the tanks and helicopters returned to their protective positions without having fired a shot. Their role was to provide protection for the technicians. When one wave of Pigeons was consumed, another wave was launched. The Americans weren't interested in advancing or holding territory. The soldiers were too busy setting up the next wave of Pigeons. It took almost two hours for ten thousand men to set up thirty thousand Pigeons for launch. The land based rail guns were staffed with another five thousand men who were raining destruction upon Islamabad and Lahore. The remainder of the forces was busy bringing up supplies. While Pakistan might have been a nuclear power, it wasn't once wave after wave of cruise missiles took out their nuclear capabilities. They had appeared over their targets within twenty minutes of the first shot fired by the Pakistanis. More missiles had been sent than had been necessary. The result was a radioactive wasteland. The military was following a scorched earth policy implemented using high tech devices that struck without remorse. Rather than targeting bridges, moving automobiles were destroyed. Everything that moved was destroyed. Due to a minor bug in the software, that included herds of cattle and sheep. Buildings were flattened. Hiding places were taken out. Parked in the Arabian Sea, the American Navy launched thousands of rounds from the rail guns that had been retrofitted onto the battleships, cruisers, and destroyers. Each two and a half kilogram round had the impact power of a cruise missile. Although they flew ballistic trajectories, there were enough of them launched to assure that Karachi and the surrounding area was leveled. When night fell, the attack didn't slow down. Three separate waves of Pigeons with infrared cameras were released. Anything with a heat signature that differed from the background was targeted. There were lots of targets fleeing to the northwest towards the tribal areas that had resisted attackers throughout history. Very few of them made it. By morning, a five hundred mile wide swath that reached almost across the full width of Pakistan was a smoking ruin. The American forces were not done. More waves of Pigeons were released to demolish the few structures that had remained standing. There was nothing to be seen by the time the tanks and helicopters arrived to occupy the territory. There was a pause of a single day while men and supplies were moved closer to the front. Soldiers worked out in the open without fear of being attacked. They knew there was no one alive within range of them to constitute even a minor threat. Even if there were, smart bombs circled the area providing constant and diligent protection. Inflatable buildings rose in a flattened field. Runways appeared almost as if by magic. When night fell, another wave of Pigeons was launched towards the north. Well ahead of the smart bombs, the smartest and most dangerous of the terrorists flocked to the lawless region of northwest Pakistan. It was from this place that they had regrouped after the fall of the Taliban in Afghanistan. They felt safe and knew that if necessary they could slip across the border and into Afghanistan. Almost forgotten by everyone except for a few people in the Pentagon and a lot of angry people in Afghanistan, one lone American base remained in the eastern part of Afghanistan. Although it had been attacked many times, it had managed to fend off the attackers. For two years, all supplies had been delivered at night using stealth bombers. What only a handful of people inside the Pentagon knew was that a significant percentage of those supplies had been Pigeons. Almost fifty thousand Pigeons were launched from the base in Afghanistan and headed east to the lawless tribal lands of Pakistan. The terrorists were caught completely by surprise when destruction approached from two directions. Every hut, hovel, and tent in the area was flattened. Used to the approach of death from the air, the terrorists ran to the caves that had sheltered them in the past. American forces moved into the tribal lands to set up a temporary base knowing that the mountains hid forces bent on their destruction. Even before they set up their base, they released a new weapon in their arsenal. It was called the spider bomb and had been designed specifically for this situation. Spider bombs were programmed to seek out caves and enter them. If they encountered a heat signature inside a dark area, they would move towards it and then explode. After three days of searching or waiting in a dark place they would explode. This often took out weapons caches. The Americans paused in their campaign long enough to allow the spider bombs to do their job. Smart bombs flew over Pakistan taking out targets of opportunity. The only islands of safety were the locations in which the Americans had constructed temporary bases. On the morning of the forth day of battle, the Americans called back the few remaining smart bombs. By that time, the entire country of Pakistan had been devastated. Over half a million smart bombs had been released. More than fifty thousands rounds had been fired by rail guns. More than a thousand cruise missiles had sought out specific targets. It wasn't until the proxy soldiers moved into what had once been cities that the true magnitude of what had been done was fully realized. It was impossible to tell how many people were buried under the rubble, but estimates suggested that almost a hundred million people had died. There was practically no one who had escaped without a wound. For the survivors, it felt like there were more Americans in Pakistan that Pakistanis. It didn't matter to them; the survivors armed themselves and fired upon the proxy soldiers. The proxy soldiers fired back and then withdrew. Another wave of smart bombs was released to rain down death and destruction. ------- On the first day of the attack on India by Pakistan, every intelligence group had been assigned the task of watching a different region around the area of the engagement. Mike's office had been assigned a fifty by two hundred mile strip that ran along the border area between Pakistan and Iran. It was pretty desolate countryside and little of much interest had happened there. By the forth day of the battle, they knew every rock in that entire area. Bored at watching nothing, Mike decided to tap into one of the feeds from a drone flying over Karachi. After having taken a look at what had been done to Karachi, Mike felt sick to his stomach. Shaking his head, he pointed to the screen and said, "I can't believe it. After all of that, they are still arming themselves and setting up fortifications." As a result of a message from another surveillance site, Shirley shifted a drone over to the location identified in the message. Spotting something entering her assigned area, she zoomed down on it. She said, "Something is happening here. I've got a couple of missile launchers moving into my area. They're stopping." "Let missile defense know," Mike said. He watched as a couple of men got out of the cab of the missile launcher and stretched. With an almost exaggerated slowness, the men went around to the back of the launcher. Five minutes passed before they did anything that looked like they preparing for a launch. "Eight divisions of Iranian troops and three divisions of Iraqi troops are moving into Pakistan. It looks like they are headed for Karachi," Harold said watching his monitor. "Let Central Command know that the Iranians are coming. I want three dozen drones above the Iranian troops. I want you to provide real-time feeds to our folks," Mike said turning his attention to Harold's screens. "They are launching missiles," Shirley said. After ten seconds, she blinked and said, "Missile defense has taken them out." "Good job," Mike said. Shirley jumped when the missile launchers exploded. When she recovered, she said, "Someone has taken out the launchers. My area is clear of activity." Mike turned to watch the situation board at the front of the room. Frowning, he said, "The Iranians still have that one rail gun that we haven't located. They may have more of them by now. If I were them, I'd want to be able to control the entire Arabian Sea. The easiest way to do that is to mount it on a ship. Jack, we better make sure that they aren't trying to take out our Navy." "I'm on it," Jack said as he started typing. A few queries into Iranian systems would allow him to identify where such a ship would be berthed. Mike turned to Shirley and said, "I want you to center your surveillance area over a fifty mile strip inside the Iranian border. There's no sense watching a lot of empty space. If you see anything moving into Pakistan, follow them." "Yes sir," Shirley said. "Harold, I want you to keep your birds over the enemy army," Mike said. "Yes sir," Harold answered. The telephone rang and Mike picked it up. He answered, "Mike Bowman here." "Mike, this is Chip." "What do you need?" Mike asked switching the phone to his bad hand and grabbing a pencil to make notes. "This invasion by Pakistan kind of took us by surprise. We didn't expect it for another six months," Chip said. That was not news to Mike. The first day of the engagement had been a real scramble as folks tried to figure out how to allocate surveillance responsibilities. While the military was monitoring the obvious battlefield, they had called upon Homeland Security to monitor the outlying regions as well as provide political assessments concerning how the neighboring countries were reacting. There were just too many places from which surprises could arise. Mike had to assign each of his groups to one of four seven hour shifts. There was an overlap of a half hour at end of a shift so that one group could hand off the situation to another. For the rest of the day, two of his offices were at work and the rest were off. It was a grueling schedule. He said, "I know." "We're going to push back the move to Texas by another three months. We've got to clear up this mess before we can accept the downtime that a move would require. This isn't going to end anytime soon," Chip said. "Okay, I'll let my people know," Mike said. Watching the front wave of smart bombs reach the Iranian forces, he said, "Things are heating up here. I've got to go." "Bye," Chip said. He hung up the phone before Mike had a chance to reply. After watching the screen for a few minutes, Mike typed up a message that the move to Texas had been delayed by three months. He sent it out and returned his attention to the screen. Things were not going well for the Iranian forces. There was no one there for them to engage. Jack said, "I've found a fleet of ships heading out to sea." "Let the Navy know," Mike said pretty confident that the Navy probably already knew that fact. "Iranian fighters have just flown into my area," Shirley said. Mike picked up the phone and called Central Command. When his call was answered, he said, "This is Mike Bowman from Homeland Security. We're monitoring the situation along the Iranian Border. It looks like the Iranian Air Force and Navy have entered the battle." "Thanks, Mike." "Colonel?" Mike asked thinking he recognized the voice. "If you won't call me Dad, then you'll have to start calling me General. At least you will if you want to address me by my proper rank," Robert answered with a chuckle. "Congratulations, General." "Thanks. I'll have to talk to you later. With the news you gave me, it looks like things are going to be a little busy here," Robert said. "Bye," Mike said just before hanging up the phone. He picked up the phone and dialed another number. Within seconds it had been answered. Mike said, "Chip, this is Mike Bowman. Iran has entered the battle. We need to expand the scope of our surveillance to include more of Iran, Iraq, and possibly Oman." "Thanks Mike. I'll get right on it," Chip said. They already had Iran and much of Iraq under surveillance. He wondered why Mike had brought up Oman. He asked, "Why Oman?" "They are in a position to attack our Navy," Mike said. "You're right. I'll get right on that," Chip said glancing over at the map in his office. He hung up before Mike had a chance to say a word. ------- Tired, Mike and Cathy entered the house an hour earlier than normal. The seven hour shift was shorter than the normal nine hours that Mike usually worked, but the pressure was a lot higher. For the fourth straight evening, Kim had a pair of massage tables set up in the living room. Without saying a word, the pair undressed and climbed on the massage tables. Kim did her magic on the two of them without a saying a single word to either of them. It pleased her that they were allowing her to serve in a manner that she understood best. Normally, Kim finished with Cathy first and then Mike while Cathy watched. That evening she reversed the order. Mike watched as Kim gave Cathy a happy ending surprised at how quickly and easily the woman was able to bring Cathy to an orgasm. It left him quiet and thoughtful. The pair retired to the pond and relaxed while Kim prepared dinner. It was a quiet time when neither talked much. Mike was lost in his thoughts about what he had observed that day. Cathy was wondering where their relationship was going. As dinner wound down and they sipped coffees, Mike said, "I had planned to take you to the Two Quail this evening, but events kind of got away from me." "The Two Quail?" Cathy asked recalling the wonderful restaurant and the delightful first date with Mike. "Yes. I thought it would be the proper place to propose to you," Mike said. Heart beating fast, Cathy echoed the one word that had really caught her attention, "Propose?" Mike answered, "Yes. I wanted to ask you to be my wife in the place where we had our first date. I know this isn't as romantic or anything, but I can't keep waiting for the time to be perfect. Will you marry me?" "Yes," Cathy said feeling that romance was quite possibly overrated. She moved over to him and kissed him passionately. ------- Convinced that if they could get past the Pigeons that they would be able to attack the Americans launching them, the Iranians had returned to a battle tactic they had used against Iraq during the Iran-Iraq War. They were marching women and children through the battlefield to clear out the threat that was in place to prevent their troops from attacking. During the Iran-Iraq War it had been mines; in this engagement they were trying to eliminate the Pigeons. Disgusted by watching women and children carrying guns and getting killed, Mike watched the screen with the news channel which was talking about the political situation at home rather than the action on the battlefield. There had been talk of impeachment as a result of the policy of total warfare that the President had followed. While many people had glibly suggested that the United States should just nuke them, the American people were shocked by the death and destruction that had been reported. The fact that women and children were dying struck at the very soul of America. Many of the European leaders were even talking of prosecuting President Archer for war crimes. China, India, and Belgium were rather noticeable for their lack of comments on the matter. The talk of charging President Archer with war crimes had reversed the American talk of impeachment. It seemed to the American people that if Europe was objecting to his actions, that he must be doing something right. After all, Europe had objected to him eliminating the terrorists at home. Mike understood why people were horrified by events in Pakistan. He was horrified by them, but he didn't see another way to prosecute the war with any chance of winning. It was impossible to tell combatant from non-combatant. The smiling thirteen year old kid that accepted candy from you would turn around and dial the cell phone number that blew you up five minutes later. He knew that for a fact. He had seen it happen. He had had it happen to men under his command. Angry at what he was seeing, he stood and said, "Fuck those people who force us to act like this." Surprised, everyone watched Mike leave the office. He got into his car and drove around for a while before he found a little park. He climbed out of his car and sat on a park bench watching the children playing in the grass with their mothers. That was what he was fighting to preserve — mothers taking their children to the park where they could play without fearing for their lives. To no one in particular, he said, "I hate the fact that I can find no way to deal honorably with dishonorable people. I find it disgusting that in order to save what I value most that I must lower myself to their level." ------- Chapter 39 The American forces had just finished their destructive walk across Iran and were in the process of entering Iraq. The scorched earth policy had left behind very few survivors. Those who remained alive were on the brink of starvation and were more worried about feeding themselves than fighting the Americans. Rather than occupy territory, the American forces were advancing. They were rolling over any and all resistance. It was relentless and didn't look like it would end. Mike was seated at the conference table in the White House briefing room with a dozen other analysts from Homeland Security. They had just finished reviewing what was happening in Pakistan and Iran behind the American troops. The death and destruction that had rained down upon those countries had left the survivors believing that Allah had abandoned them. That sentiment was slowly spreading across the entire Islamic world. As the meeting was breaking up, the President said, "Mike, could you stay for a minute?" "Sure," Mike answered returning to his seat. He nodded to the other analysts as they left the conference room. Once the room had been cleared, President Archer said, "It is time for me to start running for another term in office and I would..." "I wouldn't do that if I were you," Mike said interrupting the President. "Excuse me?" Anticipating that the discussion that would follow was not going to be much fun, Mike said, "I wouldn't run for another term if I were you." "Why?" President Archer asked confused by Mike's reaction to his news. "You won't be fit to run this country," Mike answered being much more blunt than normal. Sitting up, President Archer asked, "Why do you say that?" "We just talked about having killed millions of people without getting sick to our stomachs. We discussed killing millions more as if we were planning what movie we were going to see this evening. Do you know what we call people like that?" "What?" "Monsters. We've become monsters," Mike answered. Tony was about to object that they were killing people who wanted to kill them. Seeing the expression on Mike's face, he sat back and listened. Mike had always served as a voice of conscience. He gestured for Mike to continue. Mike said, "Maybe what we are doing is a matter of necessity. You and I believe that we have to act to save this country. We might even be able to convince ourselves that the way we are going about it is a matter of necessity. I can't help but think that there must be an alternative. I don't know what that alternative is. I do wish we had found a better way to save this country. All that I do know is that by the time this war is over... Well, we're not going to be fit to lead this country into the future." "Do you really believe that?" Mike nodded his head and answered, "Yes, I do. We have lost our compassion. America is a compassionate country. You do not want to leave office with the legacy that we killed the compassion of this great nation." ------- Mike walked up the steps to the house with more than a little nervousness. Although the opportunity had come up once or twice, he had never met Cathy's parents. He thought it was weird that a man his age should be so nervous about meeting the parents of his girlfriend. He hadn't even reached the door when Cathy opened it and greeted him with a hug and a kiss. She said, "My parents can't wait to meet you." "Is that a good thing?" Mike asked. "Yes, that is a good thing," Cathy answered with a laugh. She took his arm and led him into the living room. When they reached it, she gestured to the man and woman seated there and said, "This is my dad, Chuck, and my mom, Susan. Mom and Dad, this is Mike." Chuck rose from his seat and extended a hand. In a gravely voice, he said, "It's a pleasure to meet you Mike. Cathy's told us a lot about you." "Thank you, sir. It's a pleasure to meet you," Mike said shaking hands with the man. Susan rose and hugged him. In a very friendly voice, she said, "Welcome to the family." "Thanks," Mike said feeling a little awkward. With a little encouragement from Cathy, everyone took a seat with Mike and Cathy seated together on a love seat. After a moment of awkward silence, Chuck said, "So Cathy tells us that you were a Marine." "That's right. I was a First Lieutenant," Mike answered chaffing a bit at Chuck's use of the past tense. He glanced down at his twisted left hand. Chuck nodded his head and said, "I did my four years in the Air Force." "Ah, what did you do?" Mike asked trying to keep the conversation alive. "I drove a bus," Chuck answered with a shrug of his shoulders. He still drove a bus along a route in Washington DC. Mike didn't know what to say after that declaration. Seeing that he was at a loss for words, Cathy said, "No swapping of war stories allowed." Susan smiled weakly searching for a topic of conversation. After an awkward silence, she said, "We sure were surprised when Cathy told us that she had a job with Homeland Security." "I bet," Mike said smiling over at Cathy. He had often wondered how she had explained her sudden career change from being a waitress at an Internet Café to being a support person in Homeland Security. "To tell the truth, I'm still not sure that I understand what happened there," Chuck said scratching the side of his face. "The Internet Café where she worked was a covert intelligence office. When the old CIA Headquarters was destroyed, we had to bring more of our people there and we kept her on," Mike said. "Oh," Chuck said. He looked at Mike wondering why they would have a covert intelligence office. "Yes," Mike said feeling like this was the most miserable and awkward conversation in which he had ever participated. They were all searching for some neutral topic and were having no luck. Desperate for a topic of conversation, Cathy said, "Mike likes to fish." Chuck looked up and said, "Oh, where do you go?" "I go out to the Shenandoah River every other Saturday when the weather is good," Mike answered feeling a little relieved to have found a topic of conversation. "I've been out there," Chuck said. He paused and said, "A couple of years ago, I caught a six pound bass there. It was a real beauty. We were on one of those little..." Cathy sat back in her chair knowing that her father could talk about fishing for hours. Seeing that Mike was keeping up his end of the conversation, she relaxed and watched the two most important men in her life bond. Her mother winked and said, "Cathy, why don't we put dinner together while the men are talking fishing?" ------- The military had finally configured itself to handle its intelligence needs as it pertained to carrying forth the war effort. The Department of Homeland Security was cast back in its real role of gathering intelligence within the halls of foreign governments and other organizations that represented a threat to national security. For Mike's teams that meant they had little to do since the whole Asian area was dead in terms of activity. Rather than sit idle, Mike's teams were requested to monitor the situations inside Saudi Arabia, Syria, and Jordan. With a complete absence of human intelligence inside those countries, they were left with pouring through intercepted emails, telephone calls, newspapers, and websites trying to piece together what was happening inside of those countries. It was obvious that the morale of the Arab world was taking a beating, but the call upon the faithful to resist was still strong. Staring at the situation status board at the front of the room, Mike shook his head. To no one in particular, he said, "We're missing something in all of this mess. There is some group that has to behind it all." Charlie looked up from his computer and asked, "Why do you say that?" "Gut feeling," Mike answered. He turned to Shirley and asked, "Can you pull up the names of all of the major leaders, past and present, of the various terrorist organizations and states?" "Sure," she answered. Attention in the room slowly turned to watch Mike. Everyone knew the when he turned his attention to some problem that it stopped being a problem. Looking over the list, Mike said, "Let's take Osama bin Laden as a prototypical leader of a terrorist organization and..." Charlie shook his head and said, "I think you're going in the wrong direction." "Why?" Mike asked. "You're trying to establish what the leaders have in common by looking at individuals. The fact is that they are each unique and got to where they are in different ways. Let's look at it from a different perspective. What characteristics of a person are required within that culture to attract and direct followers?" Charlie said. "Like what?" Mike asked. Charlie answered, "Well, look at all of the leaders of those organizations. They were all successful in other endeavors before they took a leadership position in a terrorist organization. Osama bin Laden owned a construction company and was worth three hundred million or so." "You know, I never understood why someone worth that much money would go off to fight in very primitive conditions," Mike said. "Good question," Jerry answered. He said, "Maybe he was bored with playing at rich playboy." "Bored?" Mike asked. The discussion degraded into wild speculation without leading to anything productive. Rather than hold them back, Mike let people vent their private pet theories as to what created a terrorist leader. Very little work actually got done that day, but Mike knew that there were some days like that. Still, he listened to their comments with care hoping that somewhere in the wild speculation was a chance that someone would mention something that would trigger an idea. ------- Mike stepped out of the grocery store carrying a half gallon of milk in a plastic bag. He paused when the hair on the back of his neck rose. Trusting his gut, he dived behind a concrete post. A shot rang out and a chunk of brick from the wall next to where Mike had been standing flew through the air. Sitting down with his back to the column, Mike took a deep breath knowing that the worst thing he could do was to panic. Turning to look back at the door he had just passed through, he found a woman staring at him. Without even thinking about it, Mike's gun appeared in his hand. In a tight voice, Mike said, "Get back in the store and call the police." The woman didn't need to be told twice. She fled into the store leaving her shopping cart filled with bagged groceries behind. Her quick action had the unintended consequence that Mike's way into the store was blocked by the shopping cart. Swearing to himself, Mike took stock of his situation. If he was lucky, the sniper had left. He didn't feel particularly lucky. He glanced down at his left hand and considered using it to distract the sniper. He snorted and then said, "Not today." Taking in his surroundings, Mike saw that he had very little in the way of cover. There was another cement column, but it was close to twenty feet away. The automatic door was ten feet away and would require a little time to open. He didn't think that he would have a chance of making it through the door without getting shot. Deciding that it was necessary to find out if his attacker was still waiting for him, he shrugged out of his sports coat and then covered the half gallon jug of milk with it. Making sure that his hand was protected behind the cement column, he held the jug out. A bullet took out half of the plastic jug. All of a sudden, Mike was sitting in a half gallon of milk. Swearing, he said, "That wasn't too smart. I'm going to smell like rotten milk by the time I get home." There was a sudden burst of gunfire and then Mike heard someone shout, "How do you like that, Arab motherfucker?" There was a moment of silence. Mike called out, "Is he dead?" "You bet your sweet ass he's dead," a man's voice called back. "He's burning in hell by now," another man's voice said. Mike held out the jug that was still covered with his jacket and when nothing happened, he stepped out from behind the post. Two men were standing over a body, but their attention was on Mike as he approached. He was still carrying the half gallon jug covered with his coat in his bad hand but the bottom had been blown off by the shot fired at it. His pants and shoes were soaked with milk. Despite his rather odd appearance, they never took their eyes off of his gun. Both men were still holding their guns. One of them said, "Drop your gun." "I've got a permit for it," Mike said. He dropped the ruined milk carton while holding onto the jacket. After a little fumbling, he reached in the pocket of his milk soaked jacket with his bad hand. After fishing around for his ID in his pocket, he held up his ID once he had found it. He knew that he was too far away for them to read it, but they seemed satisfied. "Okay, but I'd appreciate it if you'd put the gun away," one of the men said. They didn't take their eyes off the gun until Mike had put it in his holster. Upon reaching the men, Mike looked down at the body. It looked a lot like the man who had tried to kill Officer Mike Bowman. If it wasn't then the man could have been the brother of the assassin. He heard sirens heading towards the store. Looking over at the pair of men, Mike said, "I fear that you gentlemen are in for a very long day." The one man grinned and winked at the other. In an offhand manner, he said, "Don't worry about it. We're off duty cops." He said, "I'm Homeland Security and he was trying to kill me." "Oh shit. We're going to be here all night," one of the men said running a hand through his hair in frustration. They'd get grilled by the local cops and then the federal agents. They could handle the investigation by the local cops, but there was nothing worse than getting interviewed by the feds, particularly when Homeland Security was involved. "I believe that the man shot a cop by the name of Mike Bowman about a month and a half ago." ------- The Iranian base in Mexico was nowhere near complete at the time the war had moved through Iran and into Iraq. There were about five thousand Iranian soldiers on the base and the fall of Tehran had sent shock waves through the troops. Morale was low, but the troops were angry and wanted to destroy the United States. The border was only two hundred miles north of the base. The base commander sat in his office wondering what he could do to hurt the United States. The troops were there, but the weapons necessary to carry out a mission were not. The Mexican government had some old weapons, but he didn't have the money to purchase them. There wasn't even an Iranian government left to back him in negotiations with the Mexican government. One of the ever present cockroaches skittered across his desk. Hating a country filled with so many of the disgusting insects, he grabbed a roll of paper and tried to kill it. The brown bug easily evaded his action. He spotted one of the rare silver cockroaches in the corner of the room. He threw the roll of paper at it, but it skittered out of the way. For every thousand brown roaches, there was a silver roach. No one had caught one of them, but the Mexicans assured him that was a new species. Shaking his head in disgust, he picked up the telephone. Seated in the private office of his house in the country, the President of Mexico was in a desperate state. The nation was on the verge of bankruptcy and he didn't have any plans on how to prevent a collapse of the government. Prices on goods had doubled while the supply of money had dropped in half. Unemployment had reached sixty percent and was rising. No one was investing in the country. He looked to the north blaming the Americans for all of his problems. When the call from the Iranian Base Commander arrived, the President of Mexico was in the mood to listen to any reasonable suggestion. In fact, he was in a mood to listen to unreasonable suggestions. After listening to the man for a few minutes, the President of Mexico said, "There are over two million unemployed young men in Mexico City. I can raise an army, but I can't pay for them long." The base commander replied, "Don't worry. We will train them to be excellent fighters. After we attack, we will take money from the American Banks and use it to pay your troops." "Let's do it," the President of Mexico said committing his country to war against the United States of America. He had no intention of declaring his intentions to the enemy. Surprise was his only chance of success in this extremely risky venture. In a small Internet Café outside of Washington DC the entire conversation was typed up in a report and submitted to the State Department and the Pentagon. Within hours there was a modest reassignment of troops to bases in Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. Military planners got to work coming up with ways to respond to the new situation. ------- Officer Mike Bowman was bored of sitting at home recovering from his injuries. He was able to get up and walk around, but any extended effort left him weak and exhausted. There wasn't much to do other than watch television and most of the daytime material was dull enough to put a three toed sloth to sleep. The knock on his door was appreciated as a distraction. Getting up he went over to the door and opened it. Staring at Mike Bowman, he said, "It's you." "Yes, I fear it is me," Mike answered with a smile. "Come in." Mike entered the little house and looked around at the décor. Most of the furnishings had come from IKEA. It was simple, durable, and inexpensive. There were pictures of other men in police uniforms on the wall suggesting that the man came from a family of policemen. Nodding his head, he said, "Nice place." "Thanks," Mike answered making his way to a chair. He sat down and gestured to another chair for his guest to use. Once they were both seated, he asked, "What can I do for you?" "I stopped by to let you know that the guy who shot you was killed last night," Mike answered. "Did you kill him?" the cop asked. He paused while recalling his past few conversations with the man. He said, "Don't answer that. Let me guess, officially you weren't even there." Mike laughed at the comment and answered, "No, I didn't kill him and officially I was there. He was busy shooting at me when a couple of off duty cops nailed his ass." "That's good to know," the cop answered. He stared at the top of the coffee table for a moment and then asked, "Am I safe now or will I have to worry about getting ambushed every time I leave the house?" "I don't know. We've taken out one small sleeper cell, but there is no way of telling if there are any more in the area. Our investigation has shown that I'm on a terrorist hit list. They want me dead. I'll be moving out of the area soon and I imagine that will eliminate the chance of you being mistaken for me," Mike answered. Shrugging his shoulders, he added, "We both have dangerous professions. I doubt we'll ever be totally safe." "You're right," Mike answered. He knew that his wife wouldn't like to hear that comment. His getting shot had really done a number on his wife's head. He sighed and said, "I guess I'm going to have to look for a new line of work." "I'm sorry to hear that," Mike said thinking that the war on terror had disrupted so many lives. "I don't know what I'll do. This has really been hard on my wife." Nodding his head, Mike said, "I understand how she feels. There's nothing worse than losing a loved one." "Would you care for a beer?" "Sure, that sounds real good," Mike answered. ------- Trying to verify some information gleaned from the internet, Charlie was watching the feed from a Predator Drone that was flying over a small town in Syria. Frowning, he leaned forward to examine the video that was being downloaded. Confused, he put the video on the situation board at the front of the room and said, "I need some help here." Mike looked up and asked, "What's the matter?" "The people in this town are doing something odd," Charlie answered. Mike looked up and saw what Charlie meant. There was a line of men that started at the largest building in town and made its way to an open area outside of the town. They were moving things from inside the building to the open area. Mike said, "What are they moving?" Charlie said, "It looks like ammo boxes, but I can't tell for sure." "You're right. It does look like they are moving ammo boxes," Mike said. Sitting back in his chair, he watched as a box passed from hand to hand. After fifteen minutes, they stopped passing boxes down the line. The people moved back; hiding behind some of the buildings. With an expression of confusion, Mike asked, "What in the hell are they doing?" "I don't know," Charlie answered. Their confusion was replaced with comprehension when the mass exploded in a huge fireball. Mike said, "It looks to me like they are destroying their weapons." Shirley said, "They are forming up in a line again." They watched as more ammo boxes made their way to the open space. They were stacking them in the crater that had been formed by the previous explosion. Shaking his head, Mike asked, "Where in the hell did they get so much ammo?" "I don't know," Charlie answered. It was a pretty small town to have so much ammo. He frowned when larger boxes started making their way down the line. "It is obvious that everyone in the town is involved in clearing out the weapons," Mike said. The group watched the action in the town for another hour as more munitions were destroyed. Shirley said, "It looks like something is happening over in the upper right hand corner of the feed." Charlie repositioned the camera of the drone and said, "Shit, they're executing some people." The whole room watched as six men were marched out of town and executed with shots to the back of their heads. Seeing the action, Mike commented, "I wonder how they think we're going to know about this." Shirley said, "I'd put out a sign if I were them." "See if anyone is doing that," Mike said. "I found it." Nodding his head, Mike watched as a group of women were laying out a message using cloth held down with rocks. The message read, 'WE SURENDAR.' Despite the spelling error, the meaning was obvious. Mike said, "Let's get some mini-drones over the area and drop some cockroaches. We need to see just how serious they are." Charlie said, "I'm on it." Two hours later, Shirley said, "There's another town that looks like they've done the same thing. There's a blast crater, some dead bodies outside of town, and a surrender message spelled out on the ground." Harry said, "I've found another one. It looks to me like the small towns are surrendering." "The front is only two days away from them. We're going to have to act fast if they are going to be saved," Shirley said. Smiling, Mike said, "Let's map out the towns that have surrendered and forward the information to the appropriate folks." Charlie looked over at Mike and asked, "What's with the big smile?" "I'm glad to see them surrender. I was afraid that we were going to have to kill everyone in the Middle East. It is good to know that there are some people with a little sense," Mike answered. The signal for a conference call rang through the office. Mike flipped the switch to activate the conferencing capabilities. George, one of the most laid back analysts Mike had ever met, was excited. As soon as the conference call was established, he shouted, "They're killing each other in Damascus." "Put the feed up," Mike said. The feed from a Predator Drone filled one of the screens. It was impossible to see the city through the heavy smoke that covered it. Charlie looked at it and said, "It looks like the city is burning." "That's right. It started about twenty minutes ago. People were marching through the streets killing everyone they met. The President and his family was killed about ten minutes ago. I don't know who is doing what, but it is bloody," George said. Mike tapped out a message and sent it to the Pentagon and the President. Looking up, he said, "I've just sent in a recommendation that we halt the advance at the border of Syria until we've had a chance to perform a full assessment." Shirley stared at the destruction for a moment and then asked, "Should we check out what is happening in Lebanon?" Nodding his head, Mike said, "Yes. Let's check out Jordan and what used to be Israel as well." Cathy asked, "Does this mean what I think it means?" Shirley looked over at Cathy and asked, "What do you think it means?" Putting into words what everyone was thinking, Cathy answered, "That we've won the war?" Before everyone got their hopes up too high, Mike answered, "It's too early to say that. Saudi Arabia is still a huge question mark." The rising good mood in the room was damped down a little by his answer, but there was the glimmer of a hope that they were approaching the end. Mike stared at the video feed from Damascus wondering what was happening underneath the thick smoke. George asked, "Should I send in some mini-drones?" Shaking his head, Mike said, "No. Let them fight it out. We'll go in after things have quieted down and figure out who won once the bullets have stopped flying." ------- Chapter 40 Cathy and Mike were at his house watching an old black and white movie relaxing after a busy week at the Internet Cafe. It was a Charlie Chan film and the great detective had just solved the case despite the help of his number one son. The world presented in it was so much simpler than the world in which they lived. As the film came to an end, Cathy asked, "Was life ever that simple?" "I doubt it," Mike answered. "You're probably right," Cathy said. After a moment of silence, Mike asked, "How are the plans for the wedding going?" "Good. I thought it was going to be real stressful, but your mother and mother-in-law have been great," Cathy answered glancing down at the diamond engagement ring that Mike had given her. She had been very fearful of meeting Mike's in-laws, but they had embraced her like a daughter. "That's good," Mike said. Knowing that one of the more stressful activities of a bride was finding a wedding dress, he asked, "Have you gotten a dress yet?" "Louise and I went shopping and found one. I know it'll be ready in time for the ceremony since Kim is doing the tailoring," Cathy answered. Despite the rushed nature of the wedding, most of the arrangements were complete. The church had been finalized, the reception hall reserved, and the flowers ordered. They were still working with the caterer on the menu. "Sanjay told me that they received their invitation," Mike said. "Sally took care of that. She's a wonder when it comes to those kinds of details," Cathy said. Her mother was taking care of the food and band. Mike's mother was dealing with the church and the reception hall. "It's nice that everyone is working together so well," Mike said. "Yes," Cathy answered. She had watched a couple of shows about planning weddings and had nightmares about it for a week. After a short conversation with Kim, she had come to the conclusion that so long as she was the center of attention that the wedding would be a success. Everything else was just for show and didn't have to be perfect. Kim had joked that the bride's name had to be spelled correctly on the wedding invitation, but it didn't matter how they spelled the groom's name. No one read the invitation beyond the bride's name. The conversation had actually relieved a lot of the stress. "It is in two months," Mike said feeling like the event was rushing at him at the speed of light. "We're supposed to be moving in four months," Cathy said. Every time the moving date had approached, it had been pushed back because of the events occurring in the Middle East. They were scheduled to go visit Texas the next week to look for a house and to check out the facilities. She was looking forward to the trip. Kim entered the living room and looked at the pair on the couch. Shaking her head, she said, "You two are pathetic. What are you doing sitting here talking about this and that like complete strangers? Go in the bedroom and engage in pillow talk like young lovers should." Cathy laughed at the shocked expression on Mike's face and said, "She's right." ------- With the Americans moving through the Middle East like a hot knife through butter, the situation in Europe had taken a turn for the worse. At first, the radical Muslim elements located in Europe were divided in what should be done. Some wanted to return to the Middle East to fight the Americans, but the majority recognized the futility of doing that. There was no one to fight in the Middle East except for bombs that dropped from the sky. The more reasoned option was to turn Europe into the new Middle East and use that new base as a foundation from which to strike out at the United States. After a great debate over the internet, that is what the radical elements decided to do. The Americans had intercepted the discussion and forwarded a warning to the leadership of Europe. The Europeans actually believed the warning for a change. Across Europe the reaction to the warning was the same. National leaders sought out moderate Muslims to establish a dialog about how tensions could be reduced. The unfortunate thing was that the moderate Muslims had little or no influence over their radical brethren. As the talks progressed, the radicals prepared for war. The war for Europe started with simple riots, but quickly escalated into armed battles in the street. Years of allowing individuals to preach hate within Mosques had produced a bitter fruit. Tens of thousands of men and women attacked the West without regard for their own life. Having been taught from birth that Allah would reward them in the afterlife for bringing Jihad against the infidels, the terrorists were fearless. Buildings that had stood for four and five centuries burned to the ground. In Paris, the Cathedral of Notre Dame was firebombed. The stone of the cathedral was undamaged, but the interior was destroyed. This was the event that turned the French against the Muslims to a point beyond any chance of forgiveness. Parisians, who prided themselves on their sophistication and diplomatic skills, literally beat Muslims to death in the street with their bare fists. A number of European countries found that they were on the verge of losing the battle against the fundamentalists. They had underestimated the ruthlessness with which the terrorists fought. They turned to each other for aid, but there was very little that the countries could do for each other. The situation quickly spiraled out of control. Families were getting killed in their homes. Desperate, governments turned to the United States for help. The United States provided a handful of advisors and some out of date weapons in the form of rifles. The rifles meant that men needed to fight men. The advisors just repeated the same advice over and over — kill the terrorists without remorse. Across Europe, men found they were fighting radical men, women, and children in brutal combat. Psychologically, the European soldiers were not prepared for that kind of engagement. After three months of half measures, the leadership accepted the facts about the enemy they faced. This was an enemy that fought without rules. It was a trained army that didn't fight as an army. Truces were used by the enemy as a means to regroup and attack with renewed vigor. Following the pattern established by the Americans, missiles and bombs replaced bullets and entire neighborhoods of Muslims were destroyed. By the time the fighting wound down, the face of Europe was forever changed. Buildings that had withstood World War II now were in ruins. In places, the citizens had gone well beyond excess in their response. Few people felt they could hold the moral high ground and criticism of the United States for its actions in dealing with the terrorists ended. ------- Lisa looked at Mike with a studied expression. Concerned, she said, "You seem a little concerned about the wedding." Mike bit his lower lip for a second and then said, "I've been having nightmares." "Would you tell me about them?" Lisa asked. Mike answered, "I'm back at the parking lot of the mall and the victims of the poison gas attack are on the ground in the going to die section of the triage area. I look around at all of the people there. I'm surrounded by everyone that I know. Karen is there and I'm holding her hand. This time, Cathy is there, Kim, Sanjay, Teva, Bob, Ellen, and... well every one." "How does it make you feel?" Lisa asked. "Empty," Mike answered. Shaking his head, he said, "I feel like my ability to care has been sucked out of me." Lisa wrote some notes on her pad and asked, "Is this a recent feeling?" "Yes," Mike answered. She waited to see if he would volunteer some more information. After a few seconds, she asked, "When did it start?" "I don't know exactly. I guess it was when we were advancing on Iran and they were sending the women and children out to die. I kept watching the kids, some of them only eight or nine years of age, running forwards shouting, Allah Akbar, over and over. I was thinking that these kids should be playing with toy cars, not sacrificing their lives," Mike answered. Lisa scratched some notes into her pad and then said, "You've been involved in the war in a very direct manner. Are you afraid that your involvement in it is killing your ability to feel?" "This war has taught me to feel things that I never thought I'd feel. I hate this war. I hate what it is doing to me. I hate what it is doing to this country," Mike answered. "How does that make you feel?" Lisa asked. "I hate it," Mike answered with a snort. Deciding that she had focused too long on the negative emotions he was feeling, Lisa asked, "Do you love Cathy?" Mike was silent for a moment and then nodded his head. He answered, "I do." "Then concentrate on your love for her. Concentrate on your love for your friends. I think that will help the hate that you feel abate," Lisa said. ------- President Archer's announcement that he was not running for a second term shocked the nation. Members of his party were furious, but President Archer was unmovable on the subject. He recommended a far more moderate candidate than the Republican Committee had even considered. After several brutal meetings with the committee members, he called Mike over for a private lunch in the White House dining room. Although Mike's recommendation that he not run for a second term had rankled, a little thought had convinced him that Mike had been right. The fact was that he trusted Mike's advice. Tony looked across the table at Mike after the soup course had been served. In a serious voice, he said, "I need to convince the party to run a moderate candidate. They want to run a candidate who will continue as I have done." "I was afraid of that," Mike said. He had listened to conservative news analysts talk about the need to clean up South America and Africa. It was as though the country had begun to think about world domination. "What can I do?" Mike ate a little of his soup while thinking about the question. His thoughts turned his stomach and he pushed the bowl of soup away. In a tired voice, he said, "They see your legacy as being pretty good. You've defeated terrorism at home. The war overseas is going very well. From their perspective, they want to build on that legacy." "I know." Mike said, "So show them the flip side of your legacy." "What do you mean?" Mike said, "Show them the death and destruction that we've created in fighting this war. Force them to face the reality of what we've done. Convince them that the man they need after The Great Destroyer is The Great Constructor." "I suppose that I can show them some declassified film," President Archer said thoughtfully. "I'm not talking about film. I'm talking about taking them into Baghdad and Tehran," Mike said. "There's nothing there," President Archer said. His eyes widened when he realized what Mike was telling him. "That's right. Show them the destroyed buildings that have buried the dead bodies. Let them smell the air and throw up when they realize that the stench is rotting human flesh. They need to know that is what you've done as President," Mike said. "I can't get them to go there like that," President Archer said. "You're going to be right there with them pointing out what has to be done to fix what we've wrought," Mike said looking the man in the eye. "You can be a pretty fucking brutal man. Has anyone ever told you that?" President Archer asked. "Yes," Mike answered. President Archer pushed away his bowl of soup and said, "I've lost my appetite." Mike sighed and said, "I'm a Marine. My father is a Marine. My Grandfather, God rest his soul, was a Marine. Marines get the tough jobs that have to be done and we do them. We pay the price so that others don't have to. I fight for this country. I want to know that after the fight is over that my country remains as good and strong as it was before the fight. I think that as Commander in Chief that you should have the same desire to make sure that this country is as good and strong as it was before this war." Anthony Archer looked down at the table and swallowed. In a soft voice, he said, "You're right. I'll take them on a tour." "Take the Democrats, too," Mike said confident that Tony would object. Tony was about to reject the suggestion out of hand, but held his tongue. He sat back and thought about it. Both sides of the race needed to understand what was really at stake. Nodding his head, he said, "I agree on one condition." Surprised with the ease with which the President had capitulated, Mike asked, "What?" "You go with us and explain it to them," Anthony answered. He needed someone along who could be brutal with the truth. "Yes, sir," Mike said. He looked down at his soup and muttered, "Semper Fi." ------- The Mexican Army along with Iranian forces crossed the American border at three separate places at four o'clock in the morning. They managed to make it one hundred yards before death rained down on them from above. There weren't many survivors and those who did survive would never be the same. Forty minutes later, destruction came to the handful of military bases across Mexico. Within ten minutes, there was no sign that the Iranian base had ever existed. The destruction was absolute and total. America was not going to fight a war on two fronts and did not waste any time taking care of the threat south of the border. The government of Mexico collapsed within hours. American forces moved in and took control of the country. It was not a minimal projection of force. Seven hundred thousand troops moved into the country along with tank and air support. After seeing what the Americans were capable of doing if one of its citizens were killed, the Mexican populace walked softly out of fear of triggering a massive response. A week later, the engineers moved into Mexico along with their plans for the reconstruction of the country. Trucks with heavy equipment started rolling into Mexico City. Construction materials appeared almost by magic. Once word had spread, thousands of Mexicans lined up to work. There was a real sense that things were about to change in a country in which the majority of residents had only known abject poverty. An old chapter in American-Mexican relations had been closed and a new chapter was about to begin. It didn't necessarily mean that the new chapter was going to be peaceful. There were still hundreds of Muslim enclaves scattered across Central and South America that had to be addressed. On the plus side, the southern border of the United States had shrunk significantly. It was now around seven hundred and fifty miles. ------- The civil war in Damascus ended with the wrong side winning. The radicals were better armed and better trained. Nearly two thirds of the population had been killed in the fighting. The atrocities committed during the fight made those watching sick to their stomach. On seeing the outcome, the Army aimed their rail guns at Damascus. At midnight, the guns started firing and continued for the next forty-eight hours. There was nothing but a pile of rubble left when the guns finally went silent. As they had discovered after the fall of Bagdad, the fact that the city was leveled did not mean that the terrorists had died. It only meant that they had gone underground. After the guns quieted down, the Army sent in the Giant Spiders. These were larger versions of the spiders used in the caves of Afghanistan to clear the area of terrorists. The Giant Spiders would dig through the rubble seeking entrances to underground structures. The level of Damascus had settled four feet when the underground structures were destroyed. That still did not mean that the terrorists had been stamped out. Many escaped before the structures settled to the ground. Those who managed to escape were taken down by the flock of Pigeons circling over the city. A week after the first shot had been fired from the rail gun, the Proxy-Soldiers moved into the ruins. They were still shot at by a handful of survivors. The Proxy Soldiers left the city. A laser perimeter was established around the ruined city and Wasps put into place to kill anything that broke the beam. Pigeons flew over the city looking for anything that moved. The Army passed around the villages and towns that had surrendered to engage the towns that hadn't. Syria fell and the destruction moved into Lebanon and Jordan. ------- After nine months of leading the American forces through Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Syria, General Bowman turned over command to another General. It was difficult to characterize his leadership. Very few Americans had died in the campaign. On the other hand, his campaign had killed more people than any other campaign in history. Sherman's March to the Sea now looked like Sherman's stroll through the park. On the afternoon Robert was due to arrive home, Mike and Cathy waited at the airport with Louise for his arrival. Mike was the first to spot his father and was shocked at how much he had aged in the time since he had left. His father looked and moved like a tired old man. Cathy squeezed Mike's hand out of nervousness. She hadn't met Mike's father and was very worried about how he would like her. Mike looked over at her and said, "Don't worry, he'll love you." "You're a darling young woman. You'll have him wrapped around your finger in no time," Louise added with a smile. Robert walked over to his wife and hugged her. It was a long hug that held a hint of desperation about it. After an awkwardly long time, he released her and said, "I really missed you." Louise looked in his eyes and saw nothing but pain. In a soft voice, she said, "I missed you too. I'm glad to have you at home." "It is good to be home," Robert said. Looking over at Mike, Robert said, "It's good to see you, son." "It's good to see you, General," Mike answered. There were wrinkles around his father's eyes that had never been there. His hair had turned gray. It seemed to Mike that the sparkle in his father's eye had disappeared. In a very tired voice, Robert said, "Son, never call me General again." Having an idea of the kinds of things that his father had seen, Mike understood. He couldn't imagine living with the consequences of the orders that his father had to give. Nodding his head, Mike said, "Yes, Dad." Robert smiled at Mike and gave him an approving nod. Looking over at Cathy, Robert said, "You must be Cathy." "Yes, sir. It's very nice to meet you," Cathy said. "Call me Dad. You're family now," Robert said with a smile. "Thank you," Cathy said relaxing a little. Seeing his father rub his stomach, Mike asked, "Would you like to get something to eat?" "That would be nice. I could use a good meal that didn't come out of a plastic wrapper," Robert answered referring to the modern MRE. He looked around the airport and said, "I have to wait for my duffle bag." "Stay here, Dad. I'll take care of it," Mike said looking for the sign for the luggage area. "My aide is taking care of it," Robert said. He sighed and said, "I'm going to miss having him around when I retire. I think that is all that I'm going to miss." ------- Mike and Cathy were seated in the first class section on a flight to Dallas, Texas. So far, it had been a relatively smooth flight despite a few storms between Dulles and DFW Airport. Patting Cathy's hand, Mike said, "The last time I had to fly somewhere, I was required to take a military flight rather than a civilian one. It was felt that a civilian flight was too dangerous." "I guess things have changed a little," Cathy said. This was her first flight and she had been scared to death of flying. Three glasses of wine had eased a little of the terror, but she had squeezed Mike's hand through the take off and first thirty minutes of the flight. Fortunately, it was Mike's good hand that she held. "They've changed a lot since then," Mike said. "What do you think was the biggest change?" Cathy asked. "I fell in love," Mike answered. He took her hand and kissed it. "You say the nicest things to me," Cathy said with a dismissive laugh. She said, "I'm serious. What is the biggest change since then?" Mike said, "I am being serious. For a long time I felt that I would never feel love again." Cathy's eyes misted and she said, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to laugh at you." "Don't apologize." Cathy turned to face Mike. After licking her lips, she said, "You still love Karen. You miss her and Robert, don't you?" Mike took a sip of his scotch. They had never talked about his feelings towards Karen and Robert. He had never brought the subject up out of fear that Cathy would insist that he forget them. Nodding his head, he answered, "Yes. I miss them very much." "I'm glad to hear that," Cathy said. Surprised by her reaction, Mike asked, "Why?" Cathy gave him a small smile and then leaned over to kiss him. She answered, "I don't think I would like loving a man who could put his feelings for his late wife and son on a shelf like some sort of used toy. I want a man who loves with honesty. I want a man who loves forever." "I thought you would be jealous," Mike said. "I couldn't be jealous of her. If she were still alive, I would probably envy her for having found you first," Cathy said. ------- Chapter 41 Mike and Cathy rented a car at DFW airport and drove north to Denton, Texas. As they drove along the highway, Mike said, "We've been driving for a long time, but we don't seem to have left the city." "According to the map, we're almost to Denton," Cathy said looking down at the map in her lap. "We're supposed to stay on this highway until we hit Gainesville, right?" Mike asked. "That's right. It's just past Denton. Then we take 82 across to Sherman. We'll hit 75 and go north to Denison," Cathy answered. The guy at the airport had said they could drive across Dallas to 75 and then head north, but the trip across Dallas would take almost as long as it would take to reach Denison on the route they were driving. Shaking his head, Mike said, "The guy at the airport was talking like it was just down the road a little ways." "It is only a couple of inches on the map," Cathy said with a smile. She held up her hand with her finger and thumb giving a hint of the distance. Shrugging his shoulders, Mike said, "We've passed a couple of lakes. I wonder how the fishing is around here." "According to this map there's a big lake near where we are going. As much as he loves fishing, I bet Sanjay buys some property right on the lake," Cathy said. "We just might end up being neighbors with them," Mike said winking over at Cathy. "I'm a city girl," she said with a frown. Looking down at the map, she said, "It doesn't seem like there is much of a city where we are going." ------- Mike and Cathy pulled into Denison and looked around. It wasn't much of a town from Cathy's perspective. Mike pointed over to a small house and said, "There's the bed and breakfast we're staying at." "Wow," Cathy said looking at the charming little Victorian style house. The house was nestled into a wooded area. She said, "Let's check in and then find a place to get a bite to eat. I'm hungry." Checking into the place took a little longer than either of them had thought it would. The woman at the counter took down their information in an old fashioned guest ledger before leading them to their suite. It seemed to Mike that the whole time she was writing she was also talking. Leading them through the house, she pointed out one antique after another while giving its history of where she had found it. As they followed the woman down to a little house behind the main house, Cathy said, "This is lovely." "Thank you, honey. We've done our best to make this a special little place. Lots of folks from Dallas like to come up here for a relaxing weekend in the country. The men go fishing at Lake Texoma while the women folk relax around here," the woman said. Looking over at the couple, she said, "You don't talk like you are from around here. Are you here on business or pleasure?" Wondering why she didn't remember copying information from his Virginia driving license, Mike answered, "We're looking for a house." "You're moving here?" the woman asked surprised. "That's right," Cathy answered. "I think you'll love living here. It's a wonderful area to live. There's no crime to speak of except for the occasional high school prank. I've been here my whole life and wouldn't move for a million dollars," the woman said gesturing to the surroundings. Turning to Mike, the woman said, "They are going to open the Institute for Asian Pacific Studies right up the street. It's a part of Homeland Security." The woman paused and tapped her forehead. She said, "Stupid me... I bet if you are moving here that you must work for Homeland Security." "We both do," Mike said. "Well, you guys did a great job in getting rid of those terrorists. There for a while, I was sure that the terrorists were going to win. Then all of a sudden they started losing. I bet you two had a lot to do with that," the woman said with a real smile. "We did what we could," Mike said earning a side-long look from Cathy. She was basically a glorified hostess and typist. He was a Section Chief. "For a long time it seemed to me like there wasn't a day that terrorists weren't killing Americans. I was sure that we were going to end up wearing Burkas. You know, I go topless on Topless Tuesdays although there weren't ever any terrorists around here. I don't know if women in other places still do that since we took the war to the terrorists overseas. I tell you, that..." the woman paused for a moment and then asked, "Bowman? Are you related to General Bowman?" "He's my father," Mike answered wondering what Topless Tuesdays were. The woman broke into a big smile and said, "Oh my goodness. Imagine that. Living out here and I get to meet the son of General Bowman. You must be so proud of your Daddy. He's a great man." "I am proud of him," Mike said. He wasn't going to add that he was worried about his father. His father had not left the house for since his return. His mother had said that his father was exhausted, but it seemed to Mike that it was a little more serious than that. "I follow the war on cable television every day. I am just glued to my seat. It is amazing considering few of our boys have been injured there. Now you tell your father that if he ever comes to visit you, he can stay here for free," the woman said gesturing broadly with her hands as she talked. "I'll let him know that," Mike said. The woman turned to head towards the little house at the end of the path. As she walked, she said, "It sure is a shame that President Archer isn't running for another term." Bumping Mike with her hip when he was about to make a comment, Cathy said, "It is a shame, but I imagine that running the war has taken a lot out of him." "You're probably right. It is just that he really took control of the situation. I think that he's one of the first politicians in the history of this country who kept his campaign promises. He took aim at terrorism and blew it to hell," the woman said. She stopped at the door to the cabin and opened it. Gesturing inside, she said, "This is your suite. You've got a sitting room, a bedroom with a queen size bed and a private balcony. All of the furnishings are antiques that we've collected over the years. I hope that you like antiques." "We do," Cathy said looking at the basin with the water jug in it. Smiling at Cathy, the woman said, "Don't worry. The suite has all of the modern conveniences. It's got a coffee maker, television set, and a real shower. Of course, it also has a nice antique soaker tub in case you want to take a nice long bubble bath. I've got some real nice bath powder if you would like some." "Thanks," Cathy said. "Well, when you are ready to look for a place let me know. I know the best real estate agent in the area. She's a wonderful woman — a war widow. Her husband was killed over in Iraq during the second war there. That whole mess was just a tragedy. Anyway, you let me know and I'll have her come by to talk to you. You tell her what you want and she'll find it for you," the woman said. "Thank you," Mike said. After the woman left, Mike looked at Cathy and burst out laughing. She looked puzzled and asked, "What?" "I hope everyone around here doesn't talk that much. She just about wore my ear off," Mike said. "I liked her," Cathy said. "Oh, I liked her too. It is just that she knows how to talk," Mike said. ------- The real estate agent, a woman by the name of Sharon Daniels, met Mike and Cathy in the parlor of the main house of the bed and breakfast. She had showed up wearing blue jeans, a western style shirt, and cowboy boots. She was a lot younger than Mike or Cathy had expected. The only word that Mike could find to describe her was perky. After dealing with the real estate broker in Virginia, Cathy felt that the woman was dressed too casually to be taken seriously. At the look from Cathy, Sharon had laughed and said, "Honey, I just finished showing a two hundred acre spread. We walked all over that place. Let me tell you one thing, you don't want to walk around a field filled with cows wearing heels and a dress." "Sorry, I didn't realize," Cathy said realizing she had been mistaken in her original opinion of the woman. She looked at Mike and said, "Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." Mike laughed and said, "It does seem like we're in a different world." Sharon turned to the owner of the bed and breakfast. Smiling, she asked, "Millie, do you still have some of that wonderful pear wine left?" Millie stood up and said, "I knew you were coming over and put a bottle in the refrigerator. I know how much you love my homemade pear wine." As Millie ran off to fetch the wine, Sharon said, "She has a couple of field pear trees out back and makes the best wine from them. We'll drink a little of it while discussing what you want in terms of a new home. Just going out to look for a place will be a waste of time until I know what you want." "Sounds good to me," Mike said looking over at Cathy. Sharon said, "I know every acre of land in this county. I know who is selling and why. I know who might want to sell an acre or two to raise some cash. If there is a place that meets your needs, then I'll know about. Of course, I have to know what you need and what you want." Cathy was getting more impressed with Sharon by the minute. She looked over at Mike and realized they hadn't really talked about what they wanted. Mike had joked about wanting a place where it would be easy to go fishing. She didn't have a problem with that, but there were certain things that she felt were necessities. One of those was nearby access to a grocery store. She said, "We haven't really talked about it." Sharon looked puzzled for a second and then said, "Maybe you can tell me about where you live now." Mike said, "I live in a town in Virginia outside of Washington DC. It is really a bedroom community to the Beltway. Cathy lives with her parents in a slightly larger town closer to Washington." "Oh, you are both looking for places," Sharon said. Before Mike had a chance to clear up the misunderstanding, Millie returned with a bottle of wine and poured glasses for everyone talking a mile a minute while doing so. Cathy thought the wine was outstanding. Mike thought it was a little too sweet, but he liked it. After listening to Millie describe her hobby for five minutes, Mike decided that he really liked the wine since it gave him something to think about beyond the endless details of her hobby. Millie finally left so that they could talk. Without missing a beat, Sharon returned to the topic of discussion. She said, "So you are both looking for places." Cathy said, "No, we're looking for one place. We're getting married next month." "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize," Sharon said. She looked at the couple and said, "I guess with him owning a house that you didn't really discuss where you wanted to live until now." "That's right," Mike said. "So tell me about your house," Sharon said turning to face Mike. It took Mike and Cathy almost a half an hour to describe all of the features of the house. Sharon kept asking questions about little details and how they liked them. When she asked about the kitchen, Mike had shrugged his shoulders and explained that he had a live-in housekeeper. Sharon turned to Cathy and asked about the kitchen at her house. She had lots of questions about the patio and the backyard. She then turned the discussion to hobbies and other interests. Cathy finally mentioned her concerns when she said, "I'd like a grocery store within a couple of blocks of the house." Sharon frowned and asked, "Why so close? Do you have to walk to the store or something?" "No. I just don't want to have to drive a half an hour to the store in case I forgot something," Cathy answered. Sharon laughed and said, "Honey, we measure distance here in time rather than miles. How long does it take you to get to the store where you currently live?" "Ten minutes when the traffic is bad," Cathy answered. Smiling, Sharon said, "You can live eight miles from a grocery store here and make it there in ten minutes. Distance is a little different out here." "Oh," Cathy said finding that a little difficult to believe. An eight mile drive could easily take a half an hour during rush hour. Sharon looked at the couple and decided that it was up to her to teach them a little about living in the country. She said, "If I understand correctly, you both are going to be working up at the Homeland Security Building they're opening up north of town. Now, if you are willing to accept a thirty minute commute, you can live twenty-five miles in any direction from here. You can have a place on Lake Texoma or one down near Sherman and still get to work in thirty minutes." "Okay," Mike said glancing over at Cathy to see her reaction. Leaning closer to Cathy, Sharon said, "The nearest mall is a forty- five minute drive right down highway 75. Dallas is an hour and half away if that isn't good enough. For city folks where a drive of ten miles can take half an hour, I know that the distances out here can be pretty misleading. Just take my word for it; you're close enough to shopping to be happy." Shaking his head, Mike said, "It sounds to me like we are about to have a major change in lifestyle." Cathy nodded her head and said, "You know, lots of things are about to change for us. We're going to be married. We'll have a new house. By the time we move here, the Saudi situation will be resolved. You'll be one of a handful of Section Chiefs here. I'm not sure what I'll be doing, but I know my job will be different. It's kind of like we are starting our lives all over again." Sharon had looked at Cathy when she had mentioned that the Saudi situation would be resolved and wondered how she knew that. Then she realized that they were from Homeland Security and probably knew exactly what was going to happen. When she heard that Mike was a Section Chief, she realized that she was talking to someone who could probably talk to the President. Picking up on starting their lives all over, Sharon asked, "So what do you want your new life to include?" "Well, my friend Sanjay will be moving down here. We like to fish. I think it would be kind of nice to get home from work and spend a little time fishing," Mike said. "I'd like to have something like his patio. A little grotto built into the house where we can rest and relax after really tense days," Cathy said. Sharon frowned knowing that they would have to build a house to get a little grotto like that. Everything they mentioned kept bumping up the price a little. She asked, "How much are looking to spend?" "I'll have to spend about three hundred thousand or pay taxes on it," Mike said hoping that he could get something for just a little over that. "I've saved up about seventy thousand," Cathy said. Living at home with her parents hadn't put much of dent in her income. "Oh," Sharon said revising what she could do for them upwards a little. After taking a sip of her wine, she said, "Open land in this area runs between five thousand and twenty thousand an acre. Undeveloped lakefront property is at the high end. For three hundred and fifty thousand, you could get a real nice place with about fifteen acres, a large ranch style house, and a swimming pool. You will probably have to have the house custom built for you to get your grotto." "I find that hard to believe," Mike said unable to believe that they'd be able to afford something like that. ------- Cathy and Mike returned home overwhelmed by the property they could afford. After looking around for two days, they had put an offer for a small ten acre place along Lake Texoma. There were trees that hid much of the property from the road. There was a perfect spot to put a boat launch and after looking at it, Mike was seriously considering buying a nice bass boat. Mike had just finished describing the place to his father. Robert had been quiet through most of the discussion and then said, "I might want to visit you there. It sounds real peaceful." "You've got quite a few admirers down there," Mike said. Robert made a noise like he was choking. Disgusted, he said, "I'm really sorry, Son. I fear that I've ruined the family name. I've always wondered how Thomas Crapper and Henry Shrapnel felt about their name coming to represent a toilet and pieces of flying metal. Now I know." "What's the matter, Dad?" Mike asked. "I ordered the deaths of so many people. It just seemed that no matter how many died, more rose to fight us. We just kept killing and killing without end. Kids eight and nine were carrying guns. They were more than willing to use them. We'd pause in the hope that they'd surrender, but the enemy would move in to attack us. There was just never an end to it," Robert answered shaking his head. "I know. I was watching nearly every minute of it. You may have been watching the battlefield, but I was watching the next group get ready to engage you. They were serious in attacking you. Until you hit Syria, we never saw any indication that anyone wanted to surrender," Mike said. He stared down at the floor and said, "When the Iranians started sending women and children across the battlefield hoping to use up all of the Pigeons, I had to leave. I couldn't watch it." "Did you see the battle for Bagdad?" Robert asked. "No, we were watching what was going on in Syria," Mike answered. "It was brutal. We leveled the city to the point where there wasn't even a stick left standing. I swear, even the rats were dead. After we moved in, the terrorists boiled out of underground bunkers. We withdrew and shelled the city some more. We sent in the Spiders, but they didn't seem to work. We had to send in the Giant Spiders. It took weeks for them to reach some of the deeper bunkers. There were still bastards who came out and attacked us," Robert said. Robert covered his eyes with a hand for a minute before he continued, "No one was wearing a uniform. There was no way to tell civilian from combatant. I'd think that I had one of them pinned down as a civilian and then the bastard would pick up a gun. We had to kill them all." Mike nodded his head having seen exactly the same thing. He said, "We estimated that almost a hundred and fifty million people died in the campaign." "I'm a fucking monster. I'm worse than Hitler and Stalin combined," Robert said. "You're not a monster. You're a man who had to do something monstrous because you were facing rabid beasts," Mike said. "That's how History is going to remember me," Robert said, "I'd go to bed at night thinking about how many people we had killed that day. In the morning, I'd wake up knowing that I'd have to kill even more people. The men and women under my command would look at me with horror when I'd tell them what we had to do that day. You never want to see people look at you that way." "They might have been looking at you with horror on their faces, but it wasn't because you horrified them. It was the situation," Mike said. Robert looked away for a minute and then said, "I came up on one of our men raping a woman in Afghanistan. The woman was wailing like a banshee, but she wasn't even trying to force the guy off of her. Her husband, crying like a newborn baby, was watching her being raped. He was terrified to lift a hand to save her. He was afraid that we'd kill everyone in the area. I've never seen that kind of fear in anyone. "I pulled that bastard off the woman and shot him in the head right there on the spot. A hundred men saw me do it and not one of them said a word. The man and the woman fell to the ground and just shook. They were terrified that I was going to kill them next." Shaking his head, Mike said, "I'm sure that every one of those men knew they'd have done the same thing as you." "All I know is that it made me feel so dirty," Robert said. He took a deep breath and asked, "Did I ever tell you about the time we delivered aid after an earthquake in Turkey?" "No," Mike answered. "I had just gotten commissioned as a First Lieutenant and was stationed in Germany. There was a really bad earthquake in Turkey and the State Department decided that it would be good for us to provide some aid to the victims. We got there about ten hours after the earthquake had hit. Food, water, blankets, and medicine was airdropped in and we delivered it. The people treated us like real heroes when we handed out water and food. The looks on their faces when I handed them a blanket made me feel like someone special. I knew they were thanking God that the Americans were there. I felt a million feet tall after that. "This time was different. After we had bombed their cities into dust, seeing people fall to the ground in fear when I walked past... I didn't feel a million feet tall. I felt like shit," Robert said. "I'm sorry." Robert took a deep breath and said, "I think that it would do me a lot of good to visit your place in Texas. I need a bit of time alone." "Maybe you'd like to oversee the construction of our house," Mike suggested. ------- Chapter 42 Twice a week Cathy spent the evening at school working towards her degree. She had a long way to go until completing her degree and the move had made that a little more complicated. It would take her an hour and a half to drive each way to the University of North Texas. Until she finished the first two years of her studies, she could go to Grayson County College. That was about a twenty minute drive from their house. While Cathy was in school, Mike went to the Internet Café to search for more terrorists. After having spent months without finding any of the terrorists in the United States, he decided that it was time to find the bigger fish in the Middle East. Although lots of terrorists were getting killed by the military, he suspected that none of the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood were anywhere near danger. Thinking back to the discussion about what were the common characteristics of the leadership of the Muslim Brotherhood, Mike typed in a query to the biographical database. Rather than looking at battlefield experience, he searched on religion, business experience, wealth, and education. He selected from the resulting list those who had basically sowed their wild oats when younger. He then eliminated the individuals who were still active in business assuming they would be too busy to lead the Muslim Brotherhood. A list of eighty-seven names remained after he added a few more factors. Curious as to what he would find, he put the known locations of those eighty-seven individuals on the status board. They covered the entire globe. Sitting back in his chair he considered the implications. Frowning, he said, "That's interesting. We've got a bunch of bored rich old men sitting around with nothing to do. You don't get rich doing nothing, so I seriously doubt they are just sitting around on their asses. It makes me wonder what they are doing." He decided to query the airline records for individuals leaving Iran, Iraq, and Syria bracketing the month before the Americans invaded each country. Four of the names on his list showed up. They had flown to Muslim friendly areas in Africa and South America. In a very soft voice, he said, "That's very interesting. It makes you wonder what they are doing in those places. They are definitely not living in the lap of luxury. They could have flown to Switzerland, but they didn't." Mike flagged all eighty-seven names and requested that efforts to establish surveillance on them be initiated. Within a day or two, a cockroach or two would take up residence in their homes and he'd have answers to his questions. He figured that the answers would be very interesting. ------- Cathy slid into the bathing pond with a grin on her face. She sat down across from Mike and gave him a million watt smile. Curious, Mike asked, "What's got you so happy?" "School is over and we're getting married in two weeks. Why shouldn't I be happy?" Cathy asked thinking that Mike was more attuned to her than she had thought. "You should be happy, but you look happier than that," Mike answered. "Okay, I got three good pieces of news this afternoon," Cathy said. Mike waited for her to share the news, but she didn't volunteer anything. His curiosity drove him to ask, "Are you going to share the news with me?" "Sure," she answered looking at him innocently. Mike waited a few seconds and realized she wasn't going to tell him anything. Finally, he asked, "When?" "When what?" Cathy asked with a smile. "When are you going to share the news with me?" Mike asked starting to get into her little game. "Oh, you want me to tell it to you now?" Cathy asked. "Yes," he answered looking over at her with a hang dog expression. Cathy laughed at the expression on his face. Climbing onto Mike so that she straddled him, she said, "The first piece of news is that I got accepted into the history program at the University of North Texas." Surprised that she was going there instead of Grayson County College, Mike said, "That's great. How did that happen?" Reaching down between her legs, she fondled Mike for a few seconds. Finding that he was rising to the occasion, she said, "That's the second piece of good news. Joe told me that my internship came through." Somewhat distracted by the sensations in his nether region, Mike asked, "Internship? What internship?" "I'm going to college half-time and working half-time until I get my degree," Cathy said rubbing herself against him. "That's really great!" Mike said. It was so easy to be enthusiastic when she was rubbing herself against him like that. "The third piece of news is that I am transferring," Cathy said. Despite the pleasurable sensations that Cathy was providing, Mike frowned at the news. He asked, "You're transferring?" "Yes, I'm going over to work under another Section Chief," Cathy answered. "Oh," Mike said finding that he was going to miss have her around. Seeing the disappointed look on his face, she said, "Joe said that I can't work with you once we get married." "I guess I hadn't thought about that," Mike said as Cathy resumed rubbing herself against him. Somewhat at a loss at what to say, he asked, "Who will you work for?" "I'll be working in the Southeast Asia Section under Alex Darnell," she answered. That was the Section that dealt with Vietnam, Laos, Cambodia, Thailand, Bangladesh, and Myanmar. She thought the work would be interesting despite the fact that she wouldn't really be an analyst until she completed her degree. Until then, she'd spend most of her time proofreading reports and verifying references. Mike sat up so fast that he nearly dumped Cathy out of his lap. He created a minor wave that pushed water out of the bathing pond. Excited, he asked, "Did you say Alex Darnell?" "Yes. Do you know him?" Cathy asked shocked by his reaction to her answer. "He saved my job a long time ago," Mike answered thinking back to when the Chinese had tried to maneuver him into submitting a report that would get him fired. He said, "I owe that man a beer." "How did he save your job?" Cathy asked. "He gave me some information I needed when I needed it," Mike answered. Knowing there was probably a long story involved, Cathy asked, "So are you going to help me celebrate?" Enjoying what Cathy was doing to him below the surface of the water, Mike answered, "Sure." Cathy waited for Mike to say something. When he didn't say anything, she asked, "When?" "When what?" Mike asked with a grin. Cathy realized what Mike was doing and burst into laughter. She lowered herself on him and said, "Just keep it up buster." Mike's eyes crossed and he said, "It's not going down with you doing that to it." ------- Mike went outside to move his car so that his visitors would have a place to park. His parents, his in-laws, and Cathy's parents were coming over to the house. The women were going to talk about the wedding. Mike was expected to entertain the men. He had no idea how Cathy's father would get along with the General and the Admiral. He knew it was an unfair judgment on his part, but there just weren't that many things that a bus driver had in common with flag officers. Bob was outside and waved to Mike. Despite the fact that Bob was always talking about hiring his gardener, it seemed to Mike that Bob was always outside puttering around the yard. He waved back to his neighbor as he went to his car. It took him a minute to park it in front of the 'for sale' sign along the curb. The sign held a prominent place in front of the house. Mike looked at it hoping that the real estate agent didn't call to bring someone by to look at the house. It seemed to him that the woman was bringing every customer who walked in the door of her agency by the house. Mike was about to make his way to the house but decided to swing over to where Bob was working. Bob was carefully laying out a garden hose along the sidewalk that led from the driveway to the front door. When Mike reached the man, he said, "Hello, Bob. What are you doing?" "I'm thinking about putting in a lighting system," Bob answered. "That's nice. Why?" Mike asked. "Oh, I'm thinking about selling the house," Bob answered. "I didn't know that. Moving up to a better neighborhood?" Mike asked. Bob looked around rather embarrassed before he answered, "I'm thinking of buying your house." "Really?" Mike asked. "I've got to tell you that I really love that backyard of yours. My wife fell in love with the patio," Bob answered. The afternoon they had spent in the patio had been one of the nicest times they had as a couple in years. Shaking his head, he said, "It's hard to believe what you've done with that house. I had given up ever being able to sell our house back when the renters lived there." "I don't know what to say," Mike replied scratching the back of his head. He'd never thought that any of the neighbors would want to buy his house. Bob shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, we're just thinking about it." "Thanks," Mike said trying to decide what he was thanking Bob for having done. Seeing Cathy's parents drive up, he said, "I guess I better get in the house. Cathy's parents have just arrived." "Have a good evening," Bob said. "Thanks. You too," Mike said before heading up to greet Cathy's parents. ------- For the first hour of the visit, Robert, Chuck, Vincent, and Mike walked around the garden checking out what the gardener had been doing. Vincent said, "This garden is a real beauty. I'm sorry I never took the time to check it out when I've been here in the past." "Thanks. The gardener just redid this part of the garden," Mike said. He had noticed that the flowers had changed from season to season. It seemed to him that it changed every time he went out to look at it. "Your gardener is really good. He wouldn't happen to be Sun Yung, would he?" Chuck asked. "You know Sun Yung?" Mike asked. Robert and Vincent turned to look at Chuck thinking there was a story there. Chuck laughed at how he had suddenly become the center of attention. For the majority of his visit he had been quiet. He had realized just how important the others were and had had been feeling insignificant in comparison. He answered, "Yes, I know him." "How did you meet him?" Mike asked curious about his gardener. Chuck answered, "He used to ride my bus when he first came to the country. He'd get on carrying his tools in a large bag and carrying plants. It always took him five minutes to get on and off my bus. At first I used to get mad at him, but then I watched how hard he worked to make a living. It is difficult to be mad at a man who works that hard to earn a decent wage." Mike nodded his head thinking that he had perhaps underestimated his future father-in-law. He said, "That's true." Chuck said, "As time went by, I started talking to him and found out a little about his past. It is hard to believe that someone could survive what he went through as a kid." Vincent asked, "What happened to him?" "He was sold as a young child to a wealthy Chinese businessman. Although he didn't tell me what the man did to him as a child, I got the impression it wasn't good. When he got too old to be of interest to the man, he was sent to a whorehouse to work. If he didn't satisfy the customers, he was beaten. There are still scars on his back. He ran away when he was thirteen and earned a living gardening. He was very proud that he had run away and taken control of his life," Chuck answered shaking his head. He had been horrified to learn that children could be bought and sold in the Far East. Mike thought about his comment when Sun Yung had said that he was there to make him happy. That explained the man's indignation. Mike said, "I didn't know that." Vincent shook his head and said, "One of these days I'd like to see an end to human slavery. It seems to me that it is worse today than ever in the past." Chuck nodded his head and said, "Driving a bus, you get to see all kinds of people. It's hard to see so many broken people struggling to overcome their past. There are a lot of sad stories out there. Some of them are enough to make you weep. I've had folks on my bus who had their hands cut off because they were accused of stealing something, women who've been raped because of their husband's politics, and children who were used as sex slaves in pedophile brothels." Participating in the discussion for the first time of the day, Robert said, "There are a lot of sad stories everywhere. I'd like to take part in ending a few of those stories rather than being the cause of so many." "You feel guilty for what you did in that war of yours," Chuck said looking over at Robert with a raised eyebrow. "Yes," Robert answered. "Don't. You did a favor to the world," Chuck declared flatly. Wondering if the guy actually knew what he was talking about, Robert asked, "Why do you say that?" "Look, I get all kinds of people on my bus. I've talked with refuges from countries where Islamic fascists took control and destroyed anyone and everyone who was different. I'm not saying that Islam is a bad religion. I've met plenty of folks of that religion who are good decent people. The problem is that the bad ones are capable of doing anything and they put into place a culture that has no forgiveness. Those countries you marched through are where the really bad ones took over. There weren't any good people left, the bad ones already killed them," Chuck said. "You sound pretty aware of international politics," Vincent commented. Chuck laughed and said, "I drive a bus in Washington DC. I hear things and remember what I hear." "That's a good trait," Mike said finding that his impression of Chuck was going up some more. After dealing with politicians on Capitol Hill for years, Vincent rather appreciated hearing about the view from below. He asked, "So where do you stand politically?" "That's a hard question to answer," Chuck answered. He hadn't expected to be talking politics with men who were so well connected politically. "Why?" Robert asked. "I drop people off in front of the Federal Buildings. Until President Archer closed the border, a lot of those people were there to testify in front of various Congressional Committees about what was happening in their countries. They came here to get help and we turned a deaf ear to them. Half of the time, our representatives didn't even attend the hearings. There would be one guy there who would nod and say all the right things, but nothing ever happened. "I used to be a very conservative man, but hearing all of those sad stories kind of turned me against that. The conservatives in Congress didn't seem to feel for the people who testified of horrors. For a while I considered myself a liberal until it became clear that none of the liberal leaders were willing to do anything to help people other than talk. Talk doesn't solve problems when the bad guys don't want to talk. Now, I don't know what I am," Chuck said. "Same here," Vincent said. As an officer, he wasn't allowed to give voice to his political beliefs. Of late that was a blessing. "Now that I'm retired, I guess I could go into politics. The problem is that I don't know what I believe anymore," Robert said. Nodding his head, Chuck said, "The war has been hard on political beliefs." ------- Sitting in the rocking chair, Cathy looked over at Mike seated in his comfort chair. Her father had a chair at home that was his and he'd get very upset if anyone ever sat in it. She suspected that Mike was the same about his chair. She said, "We finished with the wedding plans today. Everyone has their assignments and knows what to do." "That's good," Mike said looking over at her. He flashed on a memory of Karen seated in that chair breastfeeding Robert. There was a slight hesitation as he regained control of his voice and said, "It is hard to believe that we'll be getting married next weekend." "I know," Cathy said. She had been dreaming of that day well before Mike had asked her out. Now that the day was rushing towards them, she found that she was having second thoughts. "I'm looking forward to it," Mike said quietly. Cathy was an old fashioned woman in many ways. A lot of women her age would have moved in with him a long time ago, but she very rarely spent the entire night with him. He said, "I'm looking forward to having you in my life all day and night." Cathy was looking forward to moving in with him. Licking her lips, she said, "Same here. Are you having any second thoughts?" "No," Mike said smiling at her. He could see that she was getting a little nervous. Wanting to reassure her, he said, "I know that you and I are perfect for each other. We should be married and, after next weekend, we will be married." "You're that sure," Cathy asked looking over at the small picture of Karen and Robert that remained in the room. She hoped that he wasn't expecting her to be another Karen. "I'm that sure," Mike said noticing where she was looking. "I know that you aren't Karen. I don't expect you to become like her." "Sometimes I worry about that," Cathy said giving voice to one of her doubts. "Would you like me to remove her picture?" Cathy was silent for a long time while she considered the matter. Was out of sight out of mind really a good strategy for dealing with his late wife? She wondered if Karen would be a stronger presence if all traces of her were hidden away. Finally she answered, "No. I think I would like her to remain a part of your life." "Are you sure?" Mike asked. Feeling good about her decision, Cathy answered, "I've gotten to know her a little in my conversations with your mother and Sally. I think we could have been very good friends. I don't mind having a reminder of a friend in the house." "That's a nice thing to say," Mike said. Cathy waited for him to say something along the lines of how Karen would have said the same thing, but he didn't. She asked, "Do you ever compare me to her?" Mike frowned while he considered the question. He answered, "You are a lot like she was. She was warm and caring. She was smart and witty. She was always supportive and protective. You have those same traits, but a very different style. I appreciate the commonalities, but enjoy the differences." "Are you sure that you won't come to hate those differences?" Cathy asked. Mike laughed and asked, "Do you know how Sanjay bobbles his head when he answers yes?" "Yes," Cathy said nodding her head. "That used to bug the hell out of me. As my friendship with Sanjay grew, I found that it bothered me less and less. Now I think I would be bothered if he stopped doing it. I think that happens when you grow closer to someone," Mike said. "I can see that," Cathy said. "Any more concerns?" Mike asked recognizing that she wanted to be reassured that she wasn't making a mistake. "Kim suggested that I not visit with you for the rest of the week." "Why?" Cathy answered, "She thinks it will make us desire each other a little more on our honeymoon." Mike shook his head and said, "She likes to meddle." "She's good at it," Cathy said with a smile. Using Mike's nickname for Teva, she added, "Teva the Conniver agreed with her." "That's not good," Mike said thinking that he was about to find himself alone for the rest of the week. "You look worried," Cathy said with a smile. ------- Chapter 43 The American war machine moved into Saudi Arabia. It laid waste to every site of resistance that it encountered. Rather than moving in a long linear front, the flocks of Pigeons were sent out in pincher movements that surrounded an area and then moved in towards the center. This tactic contained the battle inside the urban areas while protecting areas that had surrendered from escaping terrorists. Rail guns pounded the urban areas to great effect. Saudi Arabia fell in three days. Mike's teams were not involved in monitoring the Saudi campaign, but Mike was monitoring the flights out of the country the week before the war arrived. Two private jets flew out and headed towards Caracas, Venezuela. He suspected that the jets contained two of the people that were on his private watch list. He typed in a request to identify the occupants when the jets landed at their destinations. They might not be able to get a person there, but someone in the South American Section would task a mini-drone with getting an image of the people when they left the airplane. He pulled up the reports on the cockroach sensors that he had requested be placed on his list of suspects. Automated speech recognition software had flagged several sections of tape. Mike looked around for a second and then said, "Tony, could you come over here for a minute?" Tony looked up from his monitor wondering what Mike could possibly want with him. Shrugging his shoulders, he rose and walked over to Mike's workstation. Once there, he asked, "What's up?" "Could you listen to these files and tell me what they are saying?" Mike asked flagging two dozen recordings. They represented almost six hours of conversation. "What are they?" Tony asked. "I'd rather have you listen to them with an open mind," Mike answered. The voice recognition software had identified one of the voices as belonging to Dhul Figar, one of Mohammad bin Laden's men, with a certainty of sixty percent. The confidence level wasn't high enough to trigger any action, but Mike suspected that it wasn't really Dhul Figar, but one of his brothers or cousins. "Okay, it would help if I knew what I was listening for," Tony said returning to his workstation. He pulled up the files and started listening to the first recording. He frowned and rewound the recording to listen to it again. ------- The alarm signaling the arrival of an alert went off. Everyone looked up at the situation board to read the message. Reading it, Mike shouted, "Yes! It's about time." "Great Britain is entering the war," Shirley said after reading the message. The message had been that Great Britain had decided to start a new front on the war on terror with an invasion of Libya. They expected to face tough opposition and were calling upon the Australians to support them. The British fleet was leaving within a month for the Middle East. "That's good news. It is no longer us against the whole world," Charlie said. It felt like a great weight had lifted from his shoulders. Cathy read the news and wondered if that would have any impact on the wedding. She asked, "What does that mean for us?" "It looks like we'll be providing some intelligence to the Brits," Shirley said. Looking around the room, Mike said, "Let's see what Canada does." "They aren't going to do anything. They're still pissed about us bombing them," Charlie said. "I agree with you. They are still angry at us, but I think you're wrong about them not joining in the war," Mike said. He predicted that Great Britain would get the Australians, the Canadians, the New Zealanders, and India into the war. He leaned forward and said, "The old alliances will be forged anew. Maybe this time we can do it right." "What makes you say that?" Tony asked. "I think that the recent fights within their borders have shown the Canadians that President Archer wasn't quite as insane as they thought. Our support allowed them to survive despite the fact that they rejected our offers to help," Mike said making reference to the battles in the streets of Montreal that occurred after the fighting broke out in Europe. The Muslims in Canada had thought they were better positioned to take over the country than their brethren in Europe. The result had been two days of heavy fighting. Missiles fired from American planes had taken out the major concentrations of Muslims thereby ending the fight. Dismissing Mike's assumption, Tony said, "They still complained that we violated their airspace." "Yes, they complained. We did violate their airspace. They didn't protest our action like they did when we took out the terrorists in Montreal the first time," Mike replied. Cathy said, "That's true. They complained that we didn't warn them first; not that we blew up the terrorists." "What about the rest of Europe?" Charlie asked. Mike said, "I think that France, Germany, Italy, and Spain might join in. That's a big might though. The Scandinavian countries are still reeling from the fighting. Belgium is still trying to resurrect a government. Their King is playing a major role in that. The countries that were once members of the Eastern Bloc will definitely fight, but it will be token forces." Charlie looked around the room at the head nods that followed Mike's estimate. He said, "You didn't mention Russia, China, or Japan." "Russia has returned to its isolationist roots. Besides, it is busy with Chechnya. China is taking care of North Korea and the Mongolian uprising. Japan has a very large Navy, but it isn't really a military power and won't contribute," Mike said. The economy of Japan had really taken a beating as a result of the international situation. ------- Mike stopped by his parent's house to check up on his father. Robert greeted him at the door and led him into the house. Once there, the man poured drinks for both of them and asked, "How are you doing?" Surprised at how upbeat his father was acting, Mike answered, "I'm doing well. How are you doing?" "I'm doing a lot better. I made arrangements to go down to your place in Texas. After thinking about your suggestion, I decided that watching them build your house would be a good idea. We'll stay in that Bed and Breakfast you recommended," Robert answered. Mike was pleased to hear that his father sounded a lot more like his old self. He said, "They said that it will take them a couple of months to build the house." "A couple of months or a year, it doesn't matter to me. I'm retired now," Robert said. It felt strange not to have days filled with meetings. It felt good to know that lives didn't hang in the balance for every decision that he made. "Maybe you can see about getting a dock built. I'm going to buy one of those bass boats," Mike said. "Sounds good. I'll have it finished before they get started on the house," Robert said. He hadn't really done that much fishing, but the idea of spending hours on a lake with nothing better to do than match wits with a fish sounded pretty good to him. "No rush," Mike said. "I might buy a boat while I'm there," Robert said. "Better build a big dock because I figure we might have to park three boats at it," Mike said. "Okay," Robert said. He was quiet for a moment and then said, "I'm really looking forward to this. War has always been hard on the men who fought it. In the First World War we discovered Shell Shock. Since then, it seems like each war has had a different price the men involved had to pay. Agent Orange for Vietnam and Gulf War Syndrome for the time spent in Iraq. This war is going to be brutal on the psyches of our soldiers." "I think you are right," Mike said. "I've asked that the VA put into place a counseling program for our returning soldiers," Robert said. "It sounds to me like you've been doing a little more than just sitting around the house," Mike commented. "I've been doing a little of this and that for the past couple of days. I've even thought about starting to write a book about my experiences over there. I'm not going to do it yet, though. It is still too fresh and painful," Robert said. He had sat down one night to write about it. Four hours later, he realized that he had been crying the entire time. "I wouldn't push it. You have plenty of time to get around to that," Mike said. "You know that I have a first edition copy of President Grant's Memoirs of the Civil War. I think I'll take a copy with me and read it while I'm in Texas," Robert said rubbing his chin. The Civil War had been one of the bloodiest wars of American History. He thought it would be interesting to read it after his most recent experiences. He wondered if he'd come away with a totally different interpretation of it. "Maybe you ought to take a modern reprint," Mike suggested. "I didn't mean that I'd take the first edition with me," Robert replied. He gave Mike one of those looks that only fathers can give their sons when they have just said something particularly stupid. ------- Mike entered his therapist's office and looked around at the tastefully decorated room. Lisa was seated in her chair with her legs crossed watching him. Normally when he took his time going to the chair he wasn't going to be very communicative that session. When he seated himself in the chair, she said, "This will be our last session before you're married." "Right," Mike answered. He looked over at the print of a flower that hung on the wall. It was one of those rather bland pictures that were chosen for its colors rather than its subject. So much of the room was color coordinated, but designed to be emotionally neutral. "How are you feeling about the wedding?" Lisa asked wondering how to get him to focus on the session. "Okay," Mike answered. He looked over at the books on her bookcase. There were books on depression, psychotropic drugs, abnormal psychology, and other topics associated with her business. Lisa realized that he wasn't being very forthcoming with information this session and decided that it might be necessary to shock him into talking. Picking up her pad and pen, she made some notes on them. Looking up at him, she said, "I think that I'll have to ask you to call off your wedding. I'm not sure that getting married right now would be in your best interests." "Excuse me," Mike said rising from his chair. "You heard me," Lisa said. "I'm very happy about the wedding. I am going to marry her and nothing you can say to me will make me change my mind," Mike said. "Then why didn't you say that when I asked you how you felt about your wedding?" Lisa asked seeing that her little ruse had worked. She had gotten his mind off of his surroundings and on the session. "I am looking forward to the wedding. I've come to the realization that I deserve a little happiness. After having been so sad for so long, I found happiness. I found that with Cathy. I wouldn't cancel that wedding for all of the money in the world," Mike said returning to his seat. "You haven't mentioned love," Lisa said. "That's because we are talking about the wedding and not about Cathy," Mike replied. "You love her?" "Yes, I do." Lisa asked, "How does that affect your feelings for Karen and Robert?" "It doesn't change my feelings towards them at all. I loved them. I still love them and I miss them," Mike answered. He sighed and said, "I still feel guilty that they died, but I'm not letting that guilt control me." Lisa looked at Mike. It was obvious that his guilt wasn't overwhelming him. She asked, "How is your father?" "He's feeling a little better. He's starting to take an interest in things once again. The other day he actually acted like the father I knew," Mike said. "Good," Lisa said. She looked over at the calendar and said, "Next week you'll be on your honeymoon so you won't be here to see me." "Right. I won't be able to make it here the week after that. I'll be traveling to the Middle East," Mike said. "The Middle East?" Lisa asked. Her eyebrows nearly reached her hairline she was so surprised by his destination. "Yes." "Why are you going there?" Lisa asked. "I'm not at liberty to discuss it," Mike replied knowing that she would have to respect that answer. He knew that with a simple recommendation from her that he could probably get out of the Middle East trip, but he had to make the trip to set things right. "Okay," Lisa said with a frown. She might have a security clearance, but there were a lot of things that she could know. She wondered what might require Mike to go to the Middle East. She looked at the calendar and said, "I guess that means you won't be back to see me until three weeks from now." "That's about right," Mike answered. "I hope that everything goes well for your wedding," Lisa said. "Thank you," Mike said. ------- Tony stepped over to Mike's workstation and said, "I finished transcribing those recordings you gave me the other day." "And?" After having spent two days listening to one of the tapes, Tony had drawn a blank at figuring out what the two men were talking about. He had just translated what had been said without trying to understand it. He answered, "They are strange. It is like they are talking in code. I mean, it was a bunch of nonsense lines with long pauses between exchanges. There's no way to make out exactly what they were discussing." "That's what I thought you would find," Mike said. "Sorry, but I did what I could," Tony said. Mike pursed his lips as he considered the information. He said, "What if I were to tell you that one of the men participating in the conversation was a relative of Dhul Figar?" "I'd say that the other guy was giving instructions to Mohammed bin Laden," Tony answered. His eyes got wide when he realized what he was saying. Mike had found someone who was giving orders to the visible leadership of the terrorists. "I would have to agree with you," Mike said in a calm voice. Tony looked at Mike for a second wondering how he could sit there looking so calm. He'd be jumping up and down. Just to confirm his suspicions, he said, "You're hunting down one of the major players, aren't you?" "It is too early to say," Mike answered with a smile. He turned to his computer and started his two finger typing. He was going to edit the tape to isolate the voices and submit them to the communications folks. It was time to see if they could intercept some telephone calls. Once he finished that, it would be time to read the transcripts and try to break the code. Tony returned to his workstation and sat down. Rather than returning to work, he watched Mike as he calmly but methodically went about catching another bad guy. The expression on Mike's face reminded him of a tiger stalking its prey. A chill went down his spine at the thought of what it must be like to have Mike hunting him down. Under his breath he said, "No wonder they call him the Hunter." ------- The ceremony was about to start and Mike was waiting with Sanjay, his best man, for the orders to step out to the front of the church. Sanjay glanced down at Mike's left hand and said, "You might want to remove your old wedding ring before the ceremony starts." Mike looked down at his left hand. His middle finger had been removed from just above the knuckle. He still wore his old wedding ring on that finger. Working the ring over the knuckle, he said, "You're right." After Mike had removed the ring, Sanjay said, "Cathy suggested that you wear it on your other hand." Startled, Mike looked over at Sanjay and asked, "She suggested that?" "Yes," Sanjay answered with a smile. He had been just as surprised by the suggestion as Mike. Grinning, Mike said, "There's no doubt in my mind that I'm marrying the right woman for me." "You do realize that you're a lucky man to have found two women to share your life with you?" Sanjay asked. "I don't know why I've been so lucky. First it was Karen and now Cathy," Mike said. Now that the world was a lot safer, he hoped that he'd be able to protect Cathy better than he had Karen. Sanjay knew Mike well enough to know in what direction his thoughts were headed. He said, "It looks like we will be neighbors." "Really?" Mike asked. Sanjay and his family had just returned from a visit to Texas. "Yes. I was really impressed by the real estate agent. She is very good and wasn't bothered by the fact that I was born in India. Although our places are miles apart by land, they are right across from each other on the water," Sanjay said. "I have a feeling that we're going to be spending a lot of time fishing," Mike said. "Yes. My wife is afraid of that too," Sanjay said with a smile. At first, she had complained that Mike and he would spend all of their spare time fishing. After giving the matter a second thought, she had decided that might not be such a bad thing. Mike said, "The timing on the move is actually pretty good. A lot of things are coming to an end. Cathy and I think that it will be like we are starting a new life together." "I agree that you are starting all over. I think it will be a new beginning for us, too. I thought that the Texans would not be very friendly to Teva and me, but they warmed up to us the minute they found out that I worked for Homeland Security. In fact, they were rather protective of us," Sanjay said. As had been the case here, most folks greeted him with suspicion. They didn't trust foreigners and showed it. Once it was known that he was fighting for the country, their attitudes had changed immediately. It had turned friendly and it wasn't just for the moment. As they went around, it seemed as if complete strangers already knew that he worked for Homeland Security and welcomed him into the neighborhood. He said, "We had been there for two days and went to breakfast one morning at a place we had never been before. When we walked in I really thought we were in trouble. There were a bunch of tables with ranchers sitting around drinking coffee and talking politics. One of them spotted us and then welcomed us by name. I was shocked. I had never seen any of those people before." "Wow," Mike said. "Yes. They cleared some room at the tables for us and invited us to join them. I never received that kind of welcome before," Sanjay said. He had spent almost an hour talking with the folks there about fishing and hunting. Listening to the activity outside in the church, Mike said, "It sounds like it is about time for us to get out there." "Nervous?" "No. I'm looking forward to this," Mike said without a trace of nervousness in his voice. He grinned and said, "Now I expect Cathy is a bundle of nerves." "Why do you say that?" "She's marrying me. Wouldn't you be a bundle of nerves if you were marrying me?" Mike asked cocking an eyebrow at Sanjay. "I think I would be seriously considering psychological counseling if I were marrying you," Sanjay answered. He grinned and added, "We are both men." Mike laughed and said, "You're right." ------- Chapter 44 With an arm around Cathy, Mike watched the water cascading over the waterfall. It was the last day of their honeymoon and they had decided that they couldn't leave the area without seeing the falls. Cathy said, "I wonder how many newlyweds have spent their honeymoon at Niagara Falls and left without seeing the falls." "I have no idea, but I'm sure that we aren't the only ones who stopped on their way out of town so that they could say they saw Niagara Falls," Mike said giving Cathy a sidelong look. She didn't look embarrassed about the fact that they had never left their hotel room. "I understand that the view is better from the Canadian side," Cathy said repeating what the clerk at the hotel had said when they had checked into their room. Mike nodded his head and said, "I've heard the same thing. Too bad we can't go there." "Yeah," Cathy said. One of the problems with having their clearances was the travel restrictions. They couldn't leave the country without first informing a half a dozen government agencies. Odds were pretty good that they wouldn't have been able to leave without bodyguards. "This was a great trip," Mike said giving her a hug. They hadn't done anything except eat, sleep, and have sex. All in all, it fit Mike's idea of an ideal honeymoon. "Yes, it was," Cathy said in total agreement. "Well, we can say that the saw Niagara Falls," Mike said watching the water as it roared over the falls. The sheer volume of water flowing past was nearly impossible to grasp. There was no doubt in his mind that it was a natural wonder of the world. "We've been here a week without taking a single picture. Do you think we should take one before we leave so that we can prove that we came here?" Cathy asked. "Sure," Mike said. He looked around and found an elderly couple walking past. With a gesture, he stopped them and asked, "Would you mind taking our picture in front of the falls?" Taking the camera from Mike, the man answered, "No problem." As Mike and Cathy went over to pose in front of the falls, the wife asked, "Are you here on your honeymoon?" Cathy answered, "Yes. We've been here all week. We were just leaving for home when we decided to stop here." The elderly woman said, "We honeymooned here forty years ago. Back in those days, a lot of young couples came to Niagara Falls for their honeymoon. I think that most young couples go to Las Vegas now rather than come here." Cathy asked, "Did you manage to see the falls on your honeymoon?" "Yes we did. We even rode the boat tour to the base of the falls," the woman answered with a laugh. When they returned from their honeymoon a lot of people had asked that question. It was strange to hear it asked again after forty years of marriage. Mike and Cathy shared a look that spoke volumes about their attitude towards sightseeing. The elderly man chose that moment to capture their image. It was a very representative picture of their trip. Chuckling, he handed back the camera saying, "I take it that you almost left without seeing it." "That's right," Mike answered. ------- To say that the bedroom had been fixed up in Mike's absence would be an understatement. Kim had gone all out. After painting the walls a nice pastel color, she had replaced all of the bedding and décor with items that were much more feminine than Mike had used. The bed cover was a floral print with matching pillow accents. The pictures on the wall had been replaced with large watercolors of flowers. It was definitely a woman's room. Used to how it had been, Cathy walked into the bedroom and looked around. Tears welled up in her eyes at the thought of the effort that had gone into making it their room rather than just his. She looked at Mike and asked, "Was this your idea?" "I wish I could say yes, but I had no idea that Kim was going to do this," Mike answered. Cathy ran out of the room to thank Kim. It was the most amazing welcome that she could have imagined. Mike stood there thinking that he had long quit caring how the bedroom looked. Seeing the effect that a little change had on Cathy gave him a moment of pause. He looked out the bedroom door at the rest of the house and realized that there was a new lady of the house. It was time he let her know that. Cathy returned to the bedroom wiping the tears from her eyes. Mike turned to her and said, "We'll only be here for another two months. During that time, you should make this house your home. Make whatever changes you think would help you feel at home." "I like it as it is," Cathy said finding it hard to breath. She had never dreamed that he would make that kind of suggestion. The reality that they were going be sharing their lives from that day on came crashing down on her. She found that she rather liked the idea. Hoping that she would let him keep his chair, Mike hugged her and said, "I'm sure that you like it as it is, but by the time you're done decorating... Well, you'll love it." "Yes, dear," Cathy said melting into his arms. It was only two months and there were only a few changes she could make in that time. Soon she would have a whole new house to arrange and decorate. Echoing her thoughts, Mike nodded his head and said, "Just think. In just a few months you'll have a brand new house to decorate." ------- Sunday afternoon, Mike stopped by the Internet Café to view the results of his intelligence collection requests. It took him ten minutes to bring up the results, but the information was unstructured. After pouring through it for an hour, he realized that he needed a better way to view the data. Mike started trying to generate drawings from the telephone, internet, and surveillance data. He wanted to see who was talking to whom. A rough picture emerged, but there was a lot of data that he couldn't add to the figure since the various data sources didn't correlate on individual identity. What he could tell was that a guy at the top talked to an aide. The aide talked to a group of messengers. The messengers talked to each other and the results were passed up to the aid and then to the guy at the top. The lowest level was a rat's nest of connections among hundreds of people. Mike was pretty sure that the messengers didn't even know what the information they passed along meant. After an hour, he was able to show a single link between two of the names of his list of possible leaders. It wasn't enough to act upon and at the rate he was able to tie together people he would be at it for years before the full upper level became clear. He needed to be able to automate it. Mike grabbed a pencil and wrote out a very quick description for a program that he felt would allow him to better analyze the information. Sitting back he reviewed what he was requesting the technical types to do. He could visualize it working in his mind, but that didn't mean that he had conveyed what he wanted done. If it worked, he'd be able to untangle the upper level that was the real power behind the Jihad. He wrote a note and dropped the specification on Cathy's desk. He'd tell her about it before leaving on his trip to the Middle East with the President. He definitely wasn't looking forward to that trip. ------- The plane landed outside the area that had once been Tehran. They had flown around the pile of rubble twice while Mike handed out satellite pictures of the once great city. After the plane, along with its escorts filled with troops, had landed, Mike went to the door and turned to face the occupants of the plane. The leadership of both parties and all of the candidates running for the office of President were aboard the plane. They looked out the windows bored and more than a little irritated at being taken off the campaign trail. After clearing his throat, Mike said, "Welcome to Tehran, Ladies and Gentlemen. For eight millennia this area has been occupied by human beings. If you look out the window, you will see that today it is a ruin. No one lives here. "Before we landed, I passed out some pictures. Look at them. They were taken of this city less than six months ago. You'll see that it was home to millions of people. It was home to men, women, and children who thought that this city would live beyond their lifetimes. It didn't. Maybe I should be a little more accurate and say that their city died along with them." Mike patted the wall of the jet as he said, "There were two possible futures the day that jets were used as weapons against the United States. The sight you see outside the windows is the future that came true. The future that didn't come true was the one in which Washington DC would be nothing more than a pile of rubble. It was inevitable after September 11, 2001 that we would have to choose which future we would have to live." Mike looked out a window of the jet and said, "We choose this one. Splendid, isn't it?" He straightened up and faced his audience. He wasn't smiling. He said, "This situation was not inevitable. Sixty years ago we could have made different choices and this would not have come to pass. Americans would never have been killed by suicide bombers. Tehran would still be a bustling city. But we didn't make those choices and now we have to reap what has been sown. "I am not here to place the blame on the Republicans or the Democrats for this situation. If you were to ask me, I'd tell you that they are both at fault. However, they are not alone in being responsible for what has happened. The whole world participated in bringing this situation to fruition. America is a superpower, but it was not the only voice on the world stage. "It is easy for Liberals to place the blame on Conservatives and vice versa. Socialists can blame Capitalists. The Capitalists can blame the Socialists. God knows that everyone is to blame," Mike said. He turned and shouted, "Everyone is to blame!" After glaring at everyone on the plane, he said, "As problems across the entire world festered, we argued. We went decades without making any real attempt to solve the underlying causes. We threw bandages at the symptoms, but never proscribed the proper medicine. "Why? Perhaps it was because the medicine was a bitter pill to swallow and no one wanted to be blamed for the unpleasantness. I don't know. Maybe we weren't wise enough to identify the proper solutions. All that I know is that the solution that we were forced to accept destroyed a city that existed since the dawn of time." Mike paused and looked at the faces of the men and women in the plane. The expressions on their faces reflected their unease at his words and the view outside the plane. Taking a deep breath, he said, "In a moment I will open the door of this plane. I ask that each of you step outside and look around at what was once a great city. After you have seen all of the sights of Tehran, come back aboard this plane and we shall talk about the future that you, as leaders of your political parties, can help shape." Mike opened the door and the odor of the city seeped into the cabin. The stairs to exit the plane had already been brought up to the door. Mike stepped out of the plane and made his way to the ground. He made it ten steps from the foot of the stairs before throwing up. Wiping his mouth, he said, "I guess I should have warned them about the smell." He looked up in time to see President Archer step out of the plane. The man's face was ashen. Mike swore that the President's hair turned gray on seeing the devastation and smelling the air. He didn't quite make it to Mike before losing his lunch. No amount of mental preparation could adequately prepare him for the smell. The other members of the tour came out of the plane one at a time. Some didn't even manage to make it out the door before they were sick to their stomach. Mike stood and watched their reactions. President Archer made his way to Mike after being sick. In a tired voice, he said, "You should have warned them." He looked over at President Archer and said, "I'm pretty sure they'll figure out what is making them sick to their stomach. There's nothing like the odor of rotting human flesh." President Archer said, "They will never forget this smell. It will live with them until the day they die." "It is better this way," Mike said watching one of the candidates getting sick by the tire of the jet, "They have to understand what it is they are inheriting." President Archer watched the head of the Republican Party crying by pile of rubble. He said, "You have done all that I have asked of you. I will take over from here." Thirty minutes later the plane was in the air on its way to an American base in Iraq. The tour of Baghdad had been canceled. President Archer had decided that it wasn't necessary. Instead, they were going to visit the oilfields. President Archer stood in front of the leaders of the two parties. He looked down at the candidates and thought about how little they understood the pressures of the office. Knowing that one of them would learn for himself what it was that aged the man who held the office, he said, "I speak to you as the President of the United States and not as a member of the Republican Party. When Mike asked that I bring you here so that you can see the real issues that must be faced in the upcoming Presidential Election, I was tempted to disagree. I had wanted to restrict it to the Republicans, but he convinced me otherwise. He reminded me that as Commander in Chief that it was my duty to end this war such that the country was better and stronger than when the war started. "The war is coming to an end. My term as President will be coming to an end. The man who succeeds me as President must have a vision for the future and the moral strength to see our country along that vision. I beg you, on behalf of the nation, not to put forth radicals or idealists as candidates. We need a leader of commonsense who will work with others to achieve something great. We need a leader who will rebuild the world without warping it into some twisted parody of some compromised ideal that no one can live within. "The American model of government is an ideal that Americans strive to make a reality. It is a model of government that Americans have adopted. It is no more and no less than that. Does that mean that our model should be applied to each and every nation? At one time I thought so, but I don't think so now." President Archer clasped his hands behind his back and looked up at the ceiling of the cabin. He said, "What I have learned in my tenure as President is very simple. Countries expect other countries, and the citizens within them, to behave in civilized manners with each other. When that stops happening, then the consequences that we have just experienced follow. "A country that preaches the destruction of other countries can not be tolerated. A government that stands by and allows its citizens to wage war on the world can not be tolerated. A country that stands by and watches as another country destroys its neighbor can not be tolerated. A country that stands by while another country destroys its own citizens can not be tolerated. The world is too small of a place for the nations of the world to stand by and allow one country to run amuck without restraint." President Archer started pacing as he said, "We need a set of laws that applies equally to all countries. Within this body of international law, we need a bill of rights that extends beyond the nations to the people who live within them. The law must recognize and accept that while the form of government is not important, it the function of a government that is important. We need governments that function properly. We need a mechanism that enforces that law equally." Seeing that several people were ready to make a comment, he held out a hand to forestall them. He said, "I am not speaking of a world government. We have seen just how effective the United Nations has been in making this a better world. It was a grand experiment based on an ideal and it didn't work. The entire history of the United Nations spanned this crisis, from its very birth to today. It didn't prevent this war. It didn't delay this war. I doubt this war would have happened without the involvement of the United Nations and the pitiful decisions that it made." President Archer turned to Mike and said, "You told me once that I would not be fit to lead this country at the end of my first term in office. In thinking about it, I realized that you were right. America does not need more politicians in Washington DC. It needs statesmen who can embrace a common goal and work together to achieve it." Turning to the leadership of the two parties, President Archer said, "I made one promise to the American people when I ran for President. I promised that I would get rid of terrorism and make the world safe for Americans. I have done my best to keep that promise and I will see it through to the end. The war continues and other cities are coming to the same fate as that in which we just stood. "I am making another promise now to you. I will use every ounce of political capital I have earned with the American people to destroy the political party that does not put a true world peace ahead of political goals. Americans will never be safe until there is peace on a global level." President Archer took a seat beside Mike and, in a low voice, asked, "Did I miss any key points?" "No, sir," Mike answered, "You didn't miss a single key point." "I feel like a fucking hypocrite talking about peace while bombing other places into rubble," President Archer said. "You can't have a peaceful end to a war until one side surrenders or both sides are willing to talk," Mike said. ------- The American Army had established a base near the oil fields of Iraq. The stated purpose was to protect the oil fields from attack by radicals. The real purpose was to keep other countries from moving in and solving their oil supply problems. Of course, no one believed either reason. After gesturing to Mike to follow him, President Archer walked to where he could see the oil wells. Two dozen Marines followed at a respectful distance. Without looking at Mike, he asked, "What in the hell are we supposed to do with this?" "What do you mean?" Mike asked. "This oil doesn't belong to us. The people who used to own it are dead," President Archer answered. He looked over at Mike and asked, "What in the hell am I supposed to do with all of this oil?" "Why are you asking me?" Mike asked. "Because you'll probably tell me something that I don't want to hear," President Archer answered with a chuckle. "I don't have any advice for you," Mike said shrugging his shoulders. This was the last discussion he expected to ever have with the President. "We have the strongest claim of anyone over the oil. You know what I mean, to the victor goes the spoils," President Archer said. He didn't like the idea that people would claim that the whole war on terror was really about the United States grabbing control of the oil fields of the Middle East. "Let's see. We would control the oil of Mexico, Kuwait, Iran, Iraq, and Saudi Arabia," Mike said. "Don't forget the United Arab Emirates. They'll fall in a few days," President Archer said. "That's a lot of oil," Mike said. "This war was never about oil as far as I was concerned. It was always about protecting Americans. Is history going to record that I fought for oil? It sure as hell feels like it right now," President Archer said. He knelt down and picked up a handful of sand. Looking up, he said, "I have people knocking on my office door with suggestions on what to do with the oil. Everyone wants to profit from it." Mike looked at the oil field and asked, "So what are you doing with all of this oil now?" "We're still pumping the oil and meeting the existing contracts. We have to continue delivering oil or the whole world will crash and burn. I'm going to suggest that we recoup some of our costs of this war from the oil revenue, but we can't take it all. That wouldn't be right. So I'm left with the problem of what we do with all of this oil." Mike gestured to the Presidential Candidates that were back at the tent listening to one of the Generals describe what actions had been taken to protect the oil during the war. He asked, "Why don't you give the problem to them?" "What?" "Give the problem to the people who want to be your replacement. I think it would make a great campaign issue," Mike said with a grin. He could imagine the candidates debating what would be in the best interests of various special interests groups. "They'll tear each other apart with that issue." "That's right," Mike said. He looked over at the group of men and said, "What better issue to use as a means of illustrating what kind of country we will become in the future? It all depends on which one we elect over the others." President Archer liked the idea. He liked it a lot. Grinning, he looked at Mike and asked, "Has anyone told you that you are brutal man?" "Yes. It seems to be a common observation of Presidents, past, present, and future," Mike answered with a grin. President Archer said, "I hope that my successor has a Mike Bowman who will keep him on the up and up." ------- While the President was on his visit to the Middle East, two new countries emerged on the African continent. The first was Berberland and the other was the Zulu Nation. Berberland was cut out of parts of Morocco and Algeria. The population in the region claimed by Berberland was greater than ninety-five percent Berber. The remaining five percent was Arab, but it looked like that percentage was dropping rapidly. Unlike the typical African revolution, this one was not led by a single individual with the rank of Colonel. It was a grass roots effort with various local communities throwing off the national government. The lack of a centralized leadership made it something other than a civil war. With each community that joined the revolution, the border of Berberland grew and solidified. Although there wasn't a formal constitution, there was an assembly of over a hundred major leaders drawn from the entire area. They met and agreed upon some basic local governance rules that harkened back to their past. On the other hand, the Zulu Nation emerged under the leadership of a single man. It broke from the chaos of a South Africa that was locked in a civil war between Zhosa, whites, and the Basotho. The Zulus had not participated in the civil war until the previous government broke down. It seemed like overnight the borders of Zulu Nation were drawn along their historical boundaries and defended against all other groups. Those borders had required significant defending, but they stood. Again, more than ninety-five percent of the population identified themselves as Zulu. Joseph Senzangakhona emerged as the leader of the revolt. The man adopted the title Chief and moved into that position confident that the Zulu people would follow him. In a large ceremony, he was recognized as Chief by those who supported him. The rest of the country quickly followed. It was as if the Zulu people had been waiting for that moment for generations. There were two interesting aspects about the rise of the Zulu Nation. The first thing was that the Zulu did not participate in a land grab. The majority of South Africa was not claimed although there wasn't really a government in place that could have prevented it. The second thing was that there was no coercion to force people to join the country. A few splinter groups of Zulu refused to join the Zulu Nation. The Zulu Chief had just waved a hand and let it be. The establishment of a new country is not an easy process. Berberland and the Zulu Nation faced what might seem like insurmountable problems particularly since they faced them without a protective superpower. Constitutions, a form of government, monetary systems, and international recognition do not appear by magic. It is hard work and takes time. A particularly promising sign was that these two fledgling countries were tackling those issues with a tenacity that had never been observed in an African country. Surprising the world, the United States was the first country to recognize Berberland and was the second to recognize the Zulu Nation. The first country to recognize the Zulu Nation was Berberland. President Archer's previous statements about Africa did not seem consistent with such a rapid recognition of a new African country. Surprising the world even more, President Archer offered to provide advisors to the fledgling governments. It was the first thing that he did upon returning from his tour of the Middle East. He was not insulted when the leaders of those countries refused his offer. In fact, he was pleased by their refusal and felt that it was a major turning point for the entire continent. ------- While Cathy didn't have the background of a military wife, she greeted Mike on his return in the proper military fashion. Much to Mike's surprise, Kim was not at the house. Cathy had wanted a private celebration of his return home. The welcome home seemed to require just about every room in the house. ------- Chapter 45 Mike returned to the office to find that a rough version of the program that he had requested had been installed on his computer. The first thing that he did was run the program on the data he had tried to analyze earlier. The results were a lot clearer, but there was still a lot of missing links. He added the data collected during the week that he had traveled the Middle East with the President. The picture generated by the program showed a structure with eleven high level leaders, three dozen aides, and two hundred messengers. There were names associated with most of the nodes. Using the program he was able to track the flow of communications among the high level leaders. Unfortunately there were no names attached to the men at the top. Working patiently, Mike was able to eliminate all but eight names from his list of suspected leaders. It took half a day to associate the eight names to eight of the top level nodes. The problem was that the results showed that there were at least eleven men leading the Jihad. Mike stared at the three nodes that were without names with a frown. He wanted all of the leaders, not just eight of eleven. The hours passed as he attacked the problem of the three unknowns. He chipped away at the problem until quitting time. He was prepared to spend the entire night looking for them except Cathy tapped him on the shoulder and said, "I'm pretty sure that what ever you are working on will wait until tomorrow." "You're probably right," Mike said finding it difficult to pull himself away from the computer. "What are you working on?" Cathy asked. Mike looked around and saw that they were alone. He said, "I've found eight of the eleven leaders of the Jihad. I'm not talking Mohammad bin Laden and others at his level. I'm talking about the ones giving them orders and coordinating actions across all of the terrorist organizations and states hostile to us." Surprised, Cathy sat down and stared at the computer. She asked, "You've found them or you think you've found them?" "I've found them. I know who eight of them are and I know where they are," Mike answered. "The last three?" Mike shook his head and said, "I've queried our biographical databases for Muslims fitting the parameters that I've identified and no one shows up." "Why Muslims?" Cathy asked. Laughing, Mike answered, "It's Jihad." "Not really. Jihad is probably just a way of motivating the soldiers. The leadership doesn't need to believe in the cause," Cathy said. Mike spun around and looked at the computer. Too excited to type, he said, "I need your fingers." Smiling, Cathy sat down and started typing as Mike gave her the keywords to use in the search. The query took five minutes to return results. There were six names on the list. The hair on the back of Mike's neck stood on end when he read one of the names. He knew without a doubt the identity of one of the leaders. For five of the names, Mike told Cathy how to request that they be put under surveillance. He also added another fifty names to the list just in case there was a leak. After she had finished typing, she asked, "What about that last name?" "That gentleman is an American citizen. He is very rich and powerful. We won't be able to go at him through normal channels," Mike said thoughtfully. "What are you going to do?" Cathy asked. Mike picked up the telephone and dialed a number. When the person on the other end answered, Mike said, "This is Mike. Bethesda Hospital, room 10, at seven tonight. Call our mutual friend. It is an emergency." After Mike hung up the phone, Cathy asked, "Who did you call?" "You're not cleared to know that," Mike answered in a sharper voice than he intended. Seeing the hurt expression on her face, he said, "I'm sorry, Cathy. There are some things that I have to keep secret. Believe me; you already know far more than you're cleared to know." Cathy realized that it was a matter of national security rather than a lack of trust on his part. Nodding her head, she said, "I understand." Mike said, "I have a meeting to attend. I'll be home late." "Alright," Cathy said understanding the significance of what Mike had discovered. Then it dawned on her just how dangerous it was. She reached out to him and said, "Be careful." ------- Jack Lancer walked into the meeting room of the hospital and looked at Mike. In a tone of voice that conveyed his irritation, he asked, "What's this about? My wife and I had a special evening planned." "I understand. I'm a newlywed with my bride at home waiting for me. I'd rather be there, but this is an emergency," Mike answered. "So tell me what's up," Jack said. "We have to wait for Tim," Mike said. Jack noticed the pile of equipment in front of Mike and frowned. He recognized it and asked, "Are you expecting the room to be bugged?" Holding up the remains of a bug, Mike answered, "Not any more." "Not any more?" Tim asked as he entered the room. "The room isn't bugged any longer," Mike answered. Tim looked at the bug and said, "Don't worry about that. I always sweep the room before and after a meeting. I find one every time. Our guys have been bugging this room for decades." "I guess I'm glad to learn that," Mike said. He wasn't even going to ask why someone would bug the meeting room of a hospital. He didn't really want to know why. "So what's so important that you call us down here in the middle of the month?" Tim asked after shutting the door to the conference room. "I found one of the primary leaders of the Jihad," Mike answered. "So have him targeted with a missile," Jack said taking a seat. He hoped that the meeting would end in a few minutes. It was possible that he might be able to salvage his evening. "It's Stanley Roberts," Mike said. Jack stood up from his chair and shouted, "What?" "I said that one of the primary leaders of Jihad is Stanley Roberts," Mike answered looking Jack in the eye. Tim stared at Mike for a full minute. Shaking his head, he said, "That mother fucking son of a bitch. I knew it. You can't trust a capitalist who claims to be a socialist." Correcting him, Mike said, "A billionaire capitalist who claims to be a socialist." "That bastard has been behind every anti-war effort in this country for the past fifteen years. He talked the previous President into dismantling the military," Jack said hitting the table with his fist. He paced around the room for a second and asked, "You are convinced that he's one of the leaders?" Nodding his head, Mike said, "That's right." "How solid is your proof?" Jack asked returning to his seat. Mike said, "It is pretty convincing, but not solid enough to act on; at least, not yet. I've got major communication links between him and ten of the other leaders. I know the identities of eight of the others. I'm in the process of collecting the data that will allow me to identify the other two." Jack smiled at how calmly Mike was reporting that he had found the leaders. He said, "Well, I guess it won't be long before we have Mohammad bin Laden." "He's not one of the leaders," Mike said with a smile. "Sure he is," Jack said. "No. He's one of the Generals, but he's not a leader of the Jihad movement. I'm talking about the guys above him," Mike said. "What?" Tim asked unable to believe what he had just heard. Jack stared at Mike wondering if he had lost his mind. Mike asked, "Did you ever wonder how it was that we would destroy some organization and another one that was fully trained, armed, and operational would pop up, literally within months? I mean, it was like the group already existed and was just waiting to be activated. "We saw that with al-Sadr. Saddam fell and within a month al-Sadr had a substantial militia ready, willing, and able to fight us. He wasn't even a supporter of Saddam. There's no way that Saddam would have allowed him or any other rival to his power to arm so many of his followers. So where did al-Sadr get the money for all of those weapons? Where did his people get the training?" "I've asked myself those same questions, but... ," Jack started to say. All of the pieces of the puzzle suddenly fell into place. He sat back in his chair and said, "You're right. We've been fighting this war by going after the chess pieces without ever considering the chess master pushing them around on the board." Nodding his head, Mike said, "That's right. When we took out the terrorists at the Jamal bin Laden funeral, we accidentally killed the reserve army that was going to move into place to take over for him. I imagine that half of the masked men who attended the funeral were members of the reserve. That's why it was so quiet after the funeral." "Our little march across the Middle East tore up their forces faster than they could replace them," Tim said nodding his head. The significance of what Mike had unearthed was staggering. Jack had no doubt that the men were busy trying to rebuild their forces even after the American Army had destroyed their armies. Thinking about Mexico, Jack said, "There are probably a dozen armies just waiting to be activated in South America." "There's probably one in Mexico getting ready to be activated," Mike said. He looked at the other two men and then asked, "So what do we do about Stanley Roberts?" "I'll take care of him. He'll be dead by tomorrow night," Jack said. Mike shook his head and said, "He's got people working for him. They'll have to be dealt with as well. His aides and messengers can't get away. Some of them are Hollywood types. I'm still working on putting the entire story together." "I'll take care of him and all of the others. Just let me know who they are," Jack said looking Mike in the eye. "It has to be coordinated with the efforts to take out the other ten along with their aides and messengers," Mike said. He didn't want the loss of one to spook the rest. "I'll need a week to get people in place and then a three hour lead time to coordinate our attack," Jack said. "You'll have it," Mike said. Looking over at Mike, Tim said, "If any of those leaders learns about this, you're a dead man. You do know that, don't you?" Shrugging his shoulders, Mike said, "They already want me dead. Once I distribute my report on them, it will be too late for them to save themselves by killing me." ------- Wearing his jogging clothes, Mike kissed Cathy and said, "I'm going for my morning jog." "We'll have breakfast ready for you when you get back," Cathy said meaning that Kim would have breakfast ready for them. "I'll be back in thirty minutes," Mike said walking over to the door. Cathy went with him to door in order to wave goodbye to him. Mike opened the door and froze. Cathy peered around him and saw a dozen Marines standing in the front yard complete with weapons. Curious, she asked, "Did you ask for Marines?" "No, I didn't. Stay here until I find out what is going on" Mike answered although he had a pretty good idea. Knowing better than to argue, Cathy stepped back into the house. She moved to the window where she could watch what was happening. Under her breath, she said, "There are at least a dozen Marines out there. They didn't even provide one Marine when someone was trying to kill him. This has got to be pretty bad." Mike stepped outside and asked, "What in the hell is going on?" "We're under orders to protect you, sir," a Sergeant said while walking over to Mike. "From what?" "I don't know sir. I have my orders and I'll follow them. Ours is to do or die, not to ask why," the Sergeant answered. "Can I have my morning jog?" Mike asked looking around. He spotted two more Marines by the side of the house. He figured there were more in the backyard. "My men can keep up with you, but I'd prefer if you wouldn't, sir. It's a little more difficult to assure your safety." "Okay. I guess I can miss this morning," Mike said. "Thank you, sir." Mike stood there for a moment and then gestured towards Bob's house. He said, "My neighbor is a nice guy. Don't hassle him if he comes over to find out what's going on." "What's his name?" "Bob and his wife is Ellen," Mike answered. "Okay." "I'll be ready to leave for work in an hour," Mike said. "The car is ready for you, sir," the Sergeant said gesturing to a limousine. ------- Cathy sat in the back of the limousine with Mike amazed at the feeling of safety that she had. She had just been told that it was bullet proof. Someone was going to extreme lengths to assure that Mike was not harmed. She said, "This is about last night, isn't it?" "Yes," Mike answered. "How long are they going to be protecting us?" she asked turning to look at the Hummer that was following behind them. It looked just like the one that was ahead of them. "At least a week," Mike answered. He figured it would be closer to two weeks. It would take him a couple of days to identify the last two leaders. Jack needed at least a week to set up the operation on Stanley Roberts. As they pulled up to the Internet Café, Cathy noticed that there were three times more Marines on duty than normal. Frowning, she asked, "Where did all of these Marines come from?" "I imagine that they are all from Quantico," Mike answered. He glanced at the driver paying specific attention to where their unit insignia should have been in an attempt to establish their unit. He noticed that all of their patches had been removed. That little detail convinced him that they had to be from the Marine Special Operations Battalion. He added, "Or Camp Lejeune." The Marine driving the car looked back at Mike impressed that he had figured it out. He said, "We're from Camp Lejeune. All of us served under your father, sir." Cathy stared at the Marine wondering if Mike's father had something to do with them being there. She asked, "Where?" "I can't say, ma'am," the Marine answered. When they entered the building everyone turned to look at them. Joe said, "We beefed up security here. I hope you don't mind." "And if I do?" Mike asked. "Well, that would be another great hope smashed, but I'd survive the disappointment," Joe answered with a smile. He comment brought about a chuckle from everyone in the room. "I'm sure you would," Mike said with a smile. He looked around and noticed that he was the center of attention. He said, "Let's get to work people. There are bad guys to catch." Looking over at the coffee pot, Cathy said, "I guess with so many people here I'll be busy today." "I'll need your fingers from time to time," Mike said sitting down at his workstation. His statement brought a smile to Cathy. Cathy went to start the coffeemaker while Mike logged into his computer. As he worked, the people in the room kept glancing in his direction wondering what was happening. Cathy delivered a cup of coffee to him and then went out to give coffee to the Marines stationed outside. Mike had been hard at work for ten minutes when there was a call. He answered the telephone and listened as the voice on the other end said, "We caught an oriental woman coming out of your house." Mike said, "Let her go. She's our housekeeper." "Housekeeper?" the Marine asked. Mike shook his head imagining the scene at the house and said, "Yes, she's my housekeeper. I also have an oriental gardener. His name is Sun Yung." "Thank you, sir. I'll add him to the list of acceptable visitors," the Marine said. "Do that," Mike said before hanging up the phone. He imagined that he was going to get an earful about this from Kim when he got home from work. Glancing over at the telephone, he was going to recommend to Cathy that they work late that night. ------- It was approaching noon when Mike typed in a query on his computer. He smiled when he saw the result. Sanjay was working at the office that was only ten miles away. He picked up the telephone and dialed Sanjay's number. When Sanjay answered, Mike said, "Hey, Sanjay. It's Mike." "How are you doing Mike?" Sanjay asked. "I'm fine. Cathy and I were thinking of going out to the Indian Buffet for lunch. We know that you don't get to eat Indian very often and we thought you might want to join us there," Mike said. Sanjay said, "Yes, I would be most happy to go. You can tell me all about your honeymoon." Mike smiled at the thought of telling him all about his honeymoon. Cathy would never forgive him if he told the full version and the censored version wouldn't be very long. He said, "I'll let Cathy tell you all about it." "Okay. You are going to the one by your primary office?" Sanjay asked. "Yes. We'll be there around twelve fifteen or so," Mike answered glancing down at his watch. Mike and Cathy, followed by four Marines, entered the Indian Restaurant. Sanjay, seated at one of the tables, waved to them. When they came over to the table, he said, "Go ahead and get something to eat. I've ordered already." "I was sure that you'd order your favorites," Mike said with a laugh. Mike went there for the buffet, but Sanjay went there for the specialty dishes that he couldn't get at home. Cathy smiled at Sanjay and, in a teasing voice, said, "I guess I'll have to call Teva and let her know where you spent lunch." Sanjay laughed and said, "She will smell the curry and know exactly what I ate for lunch." Having spotted a gun, two Marines crowded behind Sanjay. One of them put a hand on Sanjay's shoulder as he said, "You had better have a permit for that gun." Rolling his eyes, Mike said, "He's a Section Chief in Homeland Security. Of course he's got a gun and the permit to carry it." "Sorry, sir," the Marine said backing away from Sanjay. Half of the people in the restaurant had turned to watch what was happening. Sanjay looked at the pair of Marines standing behind him and the pair that was returning to their seats at a nearby table. Nonplussed, he asked, "Friends of yours?" "Guards," Mike answered. Knowing that Mike wasn't under arrest, Sanjay guessed that someone was trying to kill him. He asked, "Who is after you now?" "No one is, as far as I know. Some mutual friends of ours want to make sure that I'm safe for the next few days," Mike answered. There was only one group of mutual friends that could get Mike protected like that. Bobbling his head, Sanjay said, "I understand." Frowning at the exchange, Cathy said, "I'm glad that one of us does." "It is sometimes dangerous to be around Mike, but if you stay close to him you'll be safe. He's very good in an emergency. Just do what he says and it will all turn out okay," Sanjay said. Cathy recalled a couple of near death experiences for Mike. She glanced at his stubby finger and said, "I've heard that, but I'm not sure that I believe it." Bobbling his head, Sanjay said, "It is true. He has saved my life more times than I can count." Cathy knew that Sanjay wouldn't say anything too descriptive about what Mike had done in front of Mike. The two men had an understanding about that. Smiling, she said, "I'm sure that Teva knows exactly how many times he's saved your life." "Yes," Sanjay said bobbling his head. He added, "She is much smarter than me and can count very well. I get confused after three." Cathy laughed at the joke and knew that she wasn't going to get any more information out of Sanjay. Gesturing over at the buffet, she said, "I'm going to get some food." After filling their plates, Mike and Cathy returned to the table. On sitting down, Mike gestured in the direction of the Marines and said, "I fear that we are going to have to cancel the fishing trip this weekend." "Why?" Sanjay asked and then looked over at the Marines realizing that it was a stupid question. He realized that there was no way that they could carry that many Marines in his boat and he figured they probably didn't have another boat in which to follow them. Sanjay said, "Never mind. You're right. Marines take all of the sport out of fishing." Cathy looked confused when Mike and Sanjay started laughing at what had to be an inside joke. Wanting to understand the joke, she asked, "How would they take all of the sport out of fishing?" Mike turned to one of the Marines and, in a tone of voice that left no doubt that Mike was a Marine, he said, "Marine." "Yes, Sir," the Marine answered. He sat up straighter in his seat. Continuing in the same commanding tone of voice, Mike asked, "What is the easiest way to catch a fish?" "A hand grenade, Sir." ------- Chapter 46 Despite the fact that Mike had not wanted Cathy to be involved in work that was this sensitive, she spent an entire Saturday helping Mike with his report. Mike dictated while she typed up the report that explicitly identified ten of the upper level leaders of the Jihad movement. There was a shadowy figure referred to as Mr. X who was the eleventh leader. It was an amazing document in that it laid out exactly the structure and operations of the leadership. Even as she typed, it was hard for her to believe that Mike had been able to acquire so much information about the true leadership of what he had started referring to as the Jihad Façade. The eleven men were worth a combined eighteen billion dollars in legitimate assets. They had influence in enough countries to be able to utilize billions of dollars as they desired. Those were the assets that were directly traceable to the eleven men. There was another three or four billion in assets that resided in criminal organizations around the world. That was the assets they brought to the war against the West. It wasn't just their assets that made them powerful men. The gross revenue that passed through the companies they controlled made them the equivalent of several European countries. The gross revenue was just a few billion short of a trillion dollars. It was a staggering amount of money. They were able to control a lot of people by deciding who received a dip out of that money stream. Although not directly involved in the day to day operations of their companies, these men were basically captains of oil, industry, and construction. Two were members of the former royal family of Saudi Arabia. One was a royal in the United Arab Emirates. Another one of the men owned refineries and chemical plants throughout the world. One owned one of the largest fleets of ships in the world. Another owned a construction company that had built some of the largest projects in the world including underground facilities in Iran, Iraq, and Syria. One of them had manufacturing capabilities distributed around the world making everything from toys to missiles. One of them was a weapons dealer and had brokered deals between China and just about every one of the Third World countries. It was hard to say what one of the men did since he had interests in just about every high-tech industry under the sun. The source of wealth belonging to Mr. X was not identified. The document described how the men used their power and influence to weaken Western countries while building up the military capabilities of the Middle East, Asia, Africa, and South America. A ten million dollar bribe could get a major political leader in just about any country to provide anything that they wanted. This included billion dollar arms deals to countries that weren't quite overtly hostile to the country. These were very smart men who didn't waste one dollar more than was necessary to achieve their goal. Although Mike had labeled the level of people below the leaders as aides, the fact was that all of them were very wealthy as well. None of them were worth less than a hundred million dollars. They were also much more visible than the leaders, often living decadent lifestyles in full view of the press. The individuals that Mike had called messengers were usually members of the entourages of the aides. Some were well connected with leaders of criminal organizations that provided prostitutes, drugs, and other forms of entertainment upon demand. A good percentage of their business was supported by the aides and leaders. The excesses that were described were truly sickening. Throughout the report, there was reference to the eleventh leader as Mr. X. His aides and their messengers were unnamed as well. Very few details that would allow anyone to identify the mystery man appeared in the document. It was obvious that he was a very key player in the entire war. Cathy finished typing the last paragraph and turned to Mike. She asked, "Are you going to wait to distribute this until you know who Mr. X is?" "I know who Mr. X is," Mike replied. Frowning, Cathy asked, "Should I replace the references to Mr. X with the man's name?" "No. Mr. X has been identified in another document," Mike answered looking over at Cathy. He knew that she would identify the man as soon as the news covered his death, but felt that she was better off not knowing until after the fact. Puzzled, she asked, "Shouldn't it all be in one report?" "No. Only eighty people have clearances high enough to know who Mr. X is and this report has to go to a lot more people than that," Mike answered. "Oh," Cathy said. She looked over the report for several minutes checking it for any errors that she might have introduced in typing it. There weren't any obvious mistakes in the section she had just finished typing. She looked over at Mike and asked, "Everyone in this report is going to die, aren't they?" "Yes," Mike answered. Having read about the kinds of things the men had done, Cathy said, "Good. These men are very evil." "Yes, they are," Mike said nodding his head in agreement. He hadn't wanted to expose Cathy to the contents of the report, but she had argued that her role was to support him. He knew that rather than taking most of a Saturday, that it would have taken him more than a week to type it up by himself. Since time was of the essence, he let her help. "I still don't get it. Why are they doing this? They don't believe in Jihad. They don't seem to believe in anything except gratifying their every desire regardless of how sick and perverted it is," Cathy said. Mike said, "I think it was Tony who suggested that they were bored. A high school kid will go out and play a video war game to pass the time. These guys are so rich that they go out and buy a real army. They are playing war games." "You're not serious, are you?" Sighing, Mike said, "I don't know. The more I look at it, the more I believe that. Only seven of them are even pretending to support Jihad. Why would anyone worth a billion dollars declare war against the society that allowed them to collect that much wealth?" Cathy looked at the report for a minute and then said, "Let's send it out and then go home. I feel dirty. All I want to do is to take a long hot shower." Understanding what she was feeling, Mike asked, "You do know what happens once we send out this report, don't you?" "Not really," Cathy replied. It was obvious that the men were going to die, but she hadn't thought beyond that. Mike said, "The first battle that can actually end the war will begin. All of the armies that have been working together will get isolated from each other. They won't have the ability to replace the resources necessary to continue the fight. The terrorist organizations will collapse before long." Cathy said, "That does make me feel a little better, but I still want to go home." "I do too," Mike said. Cathy saved the document and then submitted it for distribution according to the list that Mike had given her. When it was sent out, she shut down the machine and said, "It's done." "Let's round up the Marines and go home," Mike said. Cathy had been so involved in typing the report that she had completely forgotten about the Marines guarding them. Feeling a little guilty, she said, "I can't believe that I forgot about them. They've been sitting outside guarding the building all this time. I should have taken them some coffee." ------- The real estate agent sat at the table looking at Mike and Cathy with a large smile on her face. She said, "We've had an offer on the house." "Judging by the smile on your face, I'd guess it is a pretty good one," Mike said. "That's right. I got forty thousand more than your asking price. I got three people in a bidding war for the house," the woman said. Frowning at the idea that she had been holding a bidding war for the house without telling him, Mike said, "Let me see the offers." The woman handed him a stack of papers with the offers from three different people. He could see where the people had increased the amount of their offer several times. He looked through the stack of papers and selected the bottom one. He scratched off the price on the offer and replaced it with the asking price. He showed it to Cathy and asked, "Is this okay?" "Yes," Cathy answered thinking it was one of the nicest things she had ever seen anyone do. Handing the marked up offer back to the real estate agent, he said, "This is the offer we'll accept." The real estate agent looked at what Mike had done and frowned. Mike had set the amount back to the asking price. With more than a little irritation in her voice, she said, "You can't do that." "I can and I did," Mike answered. The price difference meant a loss of more than two thousand dollars in commission. Getting angry, the woman said, "I got you a good price for your home." Looking the woman in the eye, Mike said, "You negotiated that price without consulting me. In the process, you have hurt the feelings of a friend of mine. That is the offer that we accept." "They are going to be so happy when they learn that we've accepted their offer," Cathy said looking over at Mike with a smile. "But, I got you a better price than that. You have to take the best price that was offered," the agent said. Mike leaned forward and asked, "Did you notice all of those Marines outside?" "Yes," the woman answered irritated. Those Marines had made showing the house a whole lot more difficult. Very few people wanted to see the house when it required that they get searched before going into it. She felt that she could have gotten even more for the house if the Marines hadn't shown up. "They are there for a reason. My name is on a terrorist death list," Mike said making reference to what they had discovered when searching the house of the man who had tried to kill him. There was a low growl to his voice when he relayed that fact. "Oh my," the real estate agent said with a frown. "A guy tried twice to kill him. He shot the wrong person the first time and was killed during the second attempt," Cathy said. She was still rather upset over that little episode. Mike looked the real estate agent in the eye and said, "One day Bob noticed a strange car circling the block and slowing down in front of my house each pass. At the time, he knew that someone was trying to kill me. Despite that, he stood out in his front yard to warn me when I arrived home from work. He put his life at risk for me. You don't fuck friends like that because your broker is a greedy bitch. Do I make myself clear?" "Crystal clear," the woman answered shocked at the anger in his voice. She didn't appreciate being called a greedy bitch, but she wasn't going to make an issue of it. Mike sat back in his chair thinking about how Bob must have felt to have his offers rejected over and over. His jaws clenched and unclenched as he tried to control his anger. In a tight voice, he said, "Now, you will go next door and let Bob and Ellen know that we accepted their offer. You will tell them the price that I wrote down on that piece of paper. You will then help him sell his house for the price that he wants. I want him treated like a king." "Yes, sir," the woman said turning pale. In a dismissive voice, Mike said, "You may go now." The woman packed up her papers and left the house on shaky legs. His anger was one thing, but the thought that terrorists wanted him dead terrified her. She hadn't wondered why there had been Marines stationed at the house. After glancing over at the Marines, she stopped by her car and removed her top. The idea that a terrorist might have gotten his hands on her was the stuff of nightmares, but she wasn't going to let them know that. Cathy went over to Mike and rubbed his shoulders. His muscles were hard as rocks. She said, "Let me get Kim." "Why?" Mike asked. "You're a little tense," Cathy said with a smile. She thought what he had done for Bob and Ellen was very nice. It was also very honorable. That kind of loyalty to friends made her love him even more. "I'd rather just stay here and hold you," Mike said looking up at her over his shoulder. "After Kim is done with you, you'll do more than just hold me," Cathy replied running a hand down his chest and to his crotch. "Oh my," Mike said with a smile. The massage that afternoon did not end with Kim giving Mike a happy ending. It ended with Cathy giving Mike a much more intimate happy ending. He liked it a lot. ------- Hands behind his head, Mike sat back in his chair watching everyone work with a smile on his face. Winking at him, Cathy set a cup of coffee in front of him and said, "Here you go." "Thank you, Cathy," Mike said. He picked up the cup and took a sip. He sighed in satisfaction and watched the cable news channel on the situation board. Charlie glanced over at Mike wondering why he was sitting there doing nothing. For the past few weeks, Mike had been working almost non-stop. Mike and Cathy had stayed late after work every night. It didn't seem right that Mike would just suddenly kickback in his chair that way. He shrugged his shoulders and turned back to his computer. Charlie wasn't the only one who had noticed that Mike was doing nothing. Tony watched Mike thinking about the translations that he had done. He had a feeling that Mike had just finished something very significant, but he wasn't sure just how big it was. He would ask, but he knew that Mike wouldn't answer any questions. He was pretty sure that whatever it was that Mike had done would become clear with time. The news on the cable news channel was covering the invasion of Libya by Great Britain, Canada, Australia, and India. The Australians were boarding their ships to leave that day. Grinning, Mike said, "I've got a feeling that the war is going to be over by the time they get to Libya." "Why are they attacking Libya anyway?" Charlie asked. "From what I understand the last major attack in London was backed by Libya," Mike answered. Shirley said, "I read in the newspaper that France was going after Morocco and Algeria because they had been supplying the Muslims in France with weapons." "I wish them all luck, they're going to need it," Mike said. He hoped that they left Berberland alone. The Berbers weren't to blame for the problems in France. Charlie asked, "Why do you say that?" "Look at the kind of weapons they are taking with them. They're bringing rifles, artillery, rockets, and missiles. The weapons are carried by men, trucks, tanks, or aircraft. That requires them to get up close and nasty with the forces that are there. They don't have a single Pigeon, Spider, Giant Spider, or Wasp," Mike answered. Shaking his head, he added, "They are going to discover that they are up to their asses in alligators before they even reach the swamp to drain it." "That's a pretty negative assessment," Charlie said looking over at Mike with a puzzled expression. "No, it is not. It is a realistic assessment. We've bombed cities into ashes and the bastards still come crawling out to fight us," Tony said to Charlie. Turning to Mike he asked, "Why do you think it will be over before they even get there?" "It is going to take them four months to get a good beachhead there. By the time they reach the major cities, our forces will be at the Cape of Good Hope," Mike answered. "You're right," Shirley said with a laugh. They were rolling through countries at a terrifying rate. Mike saw the next news article and said, "Ah, we have another nation emerging from the chaos that is Africa. That's interesting - Mandinkaland. Does anyone know anything about the Mandinka?" "Nope," Shirley answered. "It looks like they are serious about being a nation. They've taken a bit of this and that from four different countries," Mike said. He thought about calling Tim and finding out what was going on there. Cathy looked over at Mike recalling a conversation that she had with him a long time ago about how the African countries would redraw their national boundaries to reflect their tribal boundaries. She felt that she shouldn't be surprised to learn that he was right, but it was a surprise none the less. She asked, "So what tribe is going to emerge as a nation next?" "I don't know. It could be any of them," Mike answered with a shrug of his shoulders. Shirley looked over at Mike and asked, "So what are you working on?" "I'm doing my job," Mike answered kicking back in his chair and giving everyone in the room a smile. He added, "I'm supervising you." "Oh, is that what this little bull session is called?" Cathy asked with a smile. She was going to miss these times when they went to Texas and she started working for Alex Darnell. Mike looked over at her with a grin and answered, "Yes. Nothing is happening in our part of the world." "We can still look for the hundred most wanted," Tony said. Mike smiled and said, "Have at it." "He's too happy. Something is going to happen," Shirley said looking over at Mike suspiciously. He'd been working without break ever since he had returned from his trip to the Middle East and now he was suddenly easy going and relaxed. It didn't add up. Nodding his head in agreement, Charlie said, "He's way too relaxed." Shirley looked at Mike and then over at Cathy. Cathy looked happy as well. She squealed and said, "Cathy's pregnant!" Shocked at the announcement, Mike fell out of his chair. Cathy burst out laughing at the charge. She was laughing too hard to deny it. Everyone wondered if Shirley was right. Mike was the first to recover and said, "If she is, then it is news to me." "Me, too," Cathy managed to get out between fits of laughter. Shirley looked at Mike and asked, "So why are you so happy today?" ------- A number of the candidates that were running for their party's nomination for the Presidential election dropped out of the race. It seemed that several of them had decided that the issues were actually beyond their ability. Rumors had it that several had been asked to step out of the race by the party leaders despite the fact that they had massive campaign treasuries. All that were left were the two major contenders for each party. A lot of the rhetoric seemed to disappear from the campaigns. The call for America to conquer the world faded to a mere whisper among the fringe elements. It was interesting that whenever the topic of world domination arose the candidates wrinkled their noses as if they smelled something bad. At the same time, the candidates stated that the idea that negotiation could solve all problems was a myth. The political pundits who were trying to analyze the campaign based on historical experience were puzzled by the entire shift in campaign strategies. Rather than blusterous promises and focus on hot button issues, there were very reasoned arguments about how the United States should go forward in the future. When hot button issues were raised, the candidates reacted with lukewarm comments. In a way, the campaign fit the mood of the American People. The majority of Americans had stopped identifying with the polarizing choices being given to them. They wanted to hear about concrete situations, real policies, and national goals. Having lost their long held political beliefs, they wanted to hear someone else put into words what they believed. They even accepted the candidate who stumbled on a question and answered, "I don't know what I would do." Interviews that would have normally been either effusive in praise or damning in condemnation fell flat. News analysts who were used to interpreting every statement of a speech against a political agenda found that the candidates weren't helping them. There just weren't any great sound bites with which to bury one. One reporter who believed that America should rule the world had gotten one of the candidates to agree to a studio interview. While waving a finger in the face of the candidate, he said, "We have to wipe all of the nations that are hostile to the United States off the face of the earth. We have to show the world that America knows what is best for them. If they don't like it, then I say tough. After all, we're the ones who are making the world safer for everyone by destroying the terrorists. If you become President of the United States, you may well rule the world. What are you going to do to cement America's standing in the world?" "As President of the United States, I won't rule anything. The President is the head of the executive branch of the American government," the candidate answered. "We are on the verge of conquering the world. You've got to carry the war effort to its logical conclusion and establish America as the one and only world power," the reporter said looking at the candidate with an expression on his face as if daring the candidate to disagree with him. "You think war is a glorious thing," the candidate said softly. "You bet." The candidate stared at the reporter. After he rubbed his nose, he asked, "Have you ever visited a battlefield after the fighting has ended?" "No," the reporter answered uncertain at the change of topic. The candidate replied, "When you have done that and have gotten the smell of death out of your nose, come back and talk to me. Until you've done that, I suggest that you have no idea what you are talking about. Now if you'll excuse me, there are real reporters who want to interview me. This has been a waste of my time. I'm sure that many of your viewers feel the same." The reporter had stared as the man stood and left the interview. The interview had been scheduled to last almost thirty minutes and had ended after less than five. He was left staring at the camera and said, "I guess we know where he stands on that issue, America." A similar result occurred when a reporter that supported a Peace at Any Price position interviewed the same candidate. The reporter said, "This country has killed millions of people in this war. If you are elected President, what kind of reparations will you offer the survivors of our actions?" "Reparations?" the candidate asked looking at the reporter with a frown. He was not surprised that the subject would arise. "Yes. What kind of assistance will you give them to return to their previous standard of living? "None," the candidate answered. The reporter was rather surprised by the answer. He asked, "What do you mean you won't give them assistance? We destroyed entire countries to satisfy some sort of bloodlust and desire for revenge on our part. War is never excusable, but this war was particularly bad!" "Every country that we fought had declared war on us first. They attacked us. They sent people here and killed Americans. Don't you remember that?" the candidate said. "That doesn't excuse our response. We killed millions of them in retaliation." "They attacked us. Rewarding that kind of behavior with programs of economic development is not in the best interests of this country. That is sending the message that if you kill an American, you'll get a million in economic aid. I'm sorry, but declaring war on the United States is not the proper way for them to go about getting our help to solve their problems," the candidate said. "We are supposed to be a civilized nation. We could have talked them out of fighting us. We could have provided economic programs that would have prevented them from attacking us," the reporter said. Shaking his head, the candidate said, "The world reached this crisis because civilized nations were unwilling to use force to end certain kinds of problems. When we did use force, it was in half measures. We believed that civilized countries don't declare total war on a problem. Unfortunately, half measures lead to half solutions that don't eliminate the source of the problem. "We chose to ignore some problems because we didn't want to get our hands bloody. We let tin-pot dictators kill tens of thousands of their citizens. We stood off to the side and watched. We believed that civilized nations should be able watch those kinds of things. We believed that civilized nations shouldn't get angry enough to do something about it. "When those same men attacked us, we tried to bribe them into adopting civilized behaviors and leaving us alone. Guess what; they didn't become civilized. They didn't leave us alone. Still, we acted civilized and watched the problem develop. We did nothing when a short war prosecuted with real intent would have ended that problem in a hurry and now we have paid the price for it." Seeing the sour expression on the reporter's face, he said, "Don't get me wrong, war is not the answer to most problems. Then again, talking isn't the answer to all problems. Theodore Roosevelt once said, 'Talk softly and carry a big stick.' In a way he was right. "We forgot that as a result of the policy of mutually assured destruction. We carried a really big stick and everyone knew that we were terrified of using it. Rather than talking softly, we started yelling. The problem is that yelling doesn't solve any problems; it creates them. "As I see it, we have just shown the world that we have a stick that will destroy our enemies, but not the world. We have shown the world that we are willing to use that stick. I know it is tempting to go around beating everyone with it, but that doesn't solve any problems; it creates them. "We are approaching a point in time where we can talk softly and be heard. It is time for us to restructure our policies along rational principles. This goes for the entire world as well. We have to define how we expect countries to act; not only with us, but with respect to each other as well. The Treaty of Westphalia established the concept of a nation state. We need a new concept to expand upon that idea. The world is too small for the limited notion of a nation state. " The candidate looked at the reporter and said, "There will be no reparations, assistance, or apologies for our part in this war. If elected, I intend to give something of far greater value. I want to put into place a framework in which nations have to behave or suffer the consequences of an entire world ready, willing, and able to correct the problem." Mike listened to the interviews with hope. He felt that it had been a major change from the campaigns of four and eight years earlier. At least the candidates weren't just spouting the same divisive rhetoric. He felt that the visit across the Middle East had an effect, but time would tell if the lesson he had provided was well and truly learned. ------- Chapter 47 Mike and Cathy returned home from work to find Bob waiting outside for them to show up. Making the Marines guarding Mike a little nervous, Bob walked over to the car carrying a bottle of wine with him. Mike got out of the car and said, "Hello Bob." "Hello, Mike. I wanted to thank you for accepting our offer on your house," Bob said. In a very natural reaction to being jerked around over the price of the house, Bob and Ellen had not been happy with Mike. Ellen had been getting angry at what she viewed as unbridled greed. Bob had been hurt at the idea that his friendship was worth nothing. He and Ellen had been blown away when the real estate agent had come over and announced that Mike had accepted their first offer. That had restored Bob's faith in his friend, particularly when the agent had revealed that Mike had known nothing about the matter. "I didn't know what she was doing. When I discovered that she was playing games, I told her to stop it," Mike said still feeling a little angry at the agent. Seeing that discussing it was making Mike upset, Ellen said, "It was a wonderful thing you did." "If I had known about your first offer, I would have accepted right away. I'm sorry that you had to go through all of that pain," Mike said. Feeling a little guilty at thinking that Mike had been the bad guy in the entire deal, Bob said, "I wanted you to have this bottle of wine as a token of our thanks." "There's no need to do that," Mike said. "Take it," Bob said holding it out. "I appreciate it," Mike said as he accepted the bottle of wine from Bob. It was a very nice gesture. As Mike and Bob walked towards the backyard to look at the garden, Cathy turned to Ellen and said, "I think you'll enjoy the house. I just love the bathing pond. It is perfect after a hard day at work. I think it is better than a Jacuzzi." Ellen blushed and said, "I fell in love with it that afternoon we spent there." "It is rather romantic and the earthiness of it seems to have a positive effect on Mike," Cathy said. "It seemed to have the same effect on Bob," Ellen said thinking back to the afternoon she had spent in the patio. She didn't know if it was the fact that they were naked in the bathing pond or just an effect of the surroundings, but Bob had definitely demonstrated that he was still interested in her as a woman. Cathy smiled and said, "Mike is always an animal when we get out of the water. Of course, I do my best to make sure that the animal in Mike is roaring to go." "You naughty girl," Ellen said with a giggle. ------- The Friday evening news covered the deaths of a large number of very wealthy individuals. They reported that within a four hour period a number of billionaires and millionaires died as a result of American missiles. The first reaction of the press was confusion. Since there weren't any obvious connections to terrorism, it looked like America had declared war on the rich. Puzzled, the Greek government looked to America seeking an explanation as to why it had killed one of the richest men in that country. No one understood the dramatic execution of so many rich and powerful men. Knowing more than the press did about the reasons behind the deaths, Mike and Cathy sat on the sofa watching the news reports somewhat amused by the speculations that were being put forth. Mike had an arm around Cathy and was holding her close to him. She snuggled in and listened to the commentators. After a very ridiculous suggestion had been put forth, she asked, "Is anyone going to explain why those bastards died?" "I'm pretty sure that President Archer will make a statement or two about the matter," Mike said. Given the President's history of giving the unvarnished truth, Mike was pretty sure that the world would be talking about this incident for years. Shaking her head, Cathy said, "I can't believe that Stanley Roberts was Mr. X. He was such an obnoxious opponent to war that it is hard to believe that he was supporting a war against his own country." "He hated this country," Mike said. His investigations into the activities of Stanley Roberts had unearthed just how much the man had hurt the country. For close to twenty years he had been working to disarm the military, shutdown the intelligence agencies, and make the job of law enforcement even more difficult. Several members of the Intelligence Oversight Committee that had been put into place by the previous President had been working on orders from Stanley Roberts. "Why?" Cathy asked. Knowing as much as she did, their motivations were still a mystery to her. Giving her a little hug, Mike answered, "I don't really know. It was obvious from his actions that he didn't want the government to survive." Cathy glanced over at the television and said, "President Archer is about to make a speech." After a little bit of a delay, President Archer made his way to the podium. He took a sip of water and then looked out at the members of the press. That little smile that made so many people nervous had returned. He said, "When Dorothy wanted to return to Kansas, she went to see the Wizard of Oz. After a journey filled with various adventures, she finally reached the Emerald City and was granted an audience with the Wizard of Oz. While Dorothy was facing an impressive façade intended to overwhelm her; her dog Toto pulled aside the curtain and revealed the man behind the myth. Sometimes life is a lot like a story. "Several weeks ago, a Homeland Security analyst, code named the Hunter, lifted the curtain on the leadership of the Jihad Movement. What he discovered was astounding. He learned that a number of very wealthy men and their henchmen had been directing the Jihad Movement from behind the scenes. Hidden by a curtain of secrecy, these men had been creating armies, corrupting governments, and planning major campaigns of terror." Knowing that a lot of people knew him as the Hunter, Mike groaned and said, "I can't believe that he named me." "That's not good," Cathy said imagining a future in which he would be constantly asked if he was the man who identified the true leaders of the Jihad. The President continued, "The Hunter unearthed how this secret cabal was structured and how it operated. He pulled together evidence that proved conclusively that the orders these men gave were being carried out by terrorist organizations around the world. He exposed everything about the Jihad Movement." The President paused and looked around the room at the reporters taking in the faces of disbelief. He said, "This afternoon, we took out the entire cabal. Some very rich men died. These rich men had been using their wealth to attack the world. We have also frozen their assets. "The money supporting the terrorist organizations has stopped flowing. There will be no more weapons or ammunition. There will be no more bribes to folks in order to get them to look the other way. There will be no more armies raised in the background. The terrorist organizations are on their own and they are dying." The President paused significantly and then added, "With the actions of this afternoon, we have won a very major battle in the war against terror." After President Archer gestured to the assembled press corps for questions, one of the reporters asked, "Was Stanley Roberts one of the leaders?" "The death of Stanley Roberts and his associates in the plane crash this afternoon was an accident. It is being investigated by the appropriate authorities. So far they believe that it was pilot error," the President answered. "Why would he lie about that?" Cathy asked surprised at the President's answer. "He probably isn't lying," Mike answered. Cathy pulled away from Mike and asked, "Are you telling me that he doesn't know that Stanley Roberts was one of the leaders?" "We didn't tell him about Stanley Roberts," Mike answered. "Why?" "He doesn't have the clearance to know that," Mike answered. He had to admit that Jack had done a good job in clearing out the American faction of the leadership of the Jihad Façade. It was always news when a couple of Hollywood types died of overdoses, but nothing out of the ordinary. A rich man's airplane crashing on takeoff was a common enough event. Fat men had heart attacks all of the time. He added, "I imagine that we'll tell him now that Stanley Roberts has been eliminated as a threat." "So who ordered them to be killed?" Cathy asked. Mike was silent for a moment and then said, "It's not important. It was done and the world is safer because of it." A reporter asked, "What can you tell us about the Hunter?" When President Archer started answering the question, Mike turned off the television not wanting to listen to the answer. He said, "Let's go to bed." "It's only eight," Cathy said glancing over at the clock. "I know," Mike replied with a grin. ------- Karen ran over to Mike shouting, "Unk!" Cathy laughed at the little girl's exuberance and said, "I think she's going to call you Unk forever." Catching Karen in his arms, Mike lifted her in the air and then hugged her. The pair rubbed noses. Grinning, Mike asked, "So how is my favorite niece doing?" "Unk!" Mike set Karen down on the floor and knelt down next to her. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a little stuffed animal. It was a floppy eared dog. He gave it to her and said, "I brought you a little present." Karen grabbed the little present from his hand and then gave him a hug. She stepped back to look at it. She said, "It's a doggy." "That's right. It's a doggy. What are you going to name it?" Mike asked. "Happy," she answered and hugged the stuffed animal. Watching the pair interact, Teva said, "He spoils her rotten." "Yes, he does," Cathy said making plans that as soon as they moved to Texas she was going to do her best to get pregnant. Teva looked over at Cathy and said, "You're waiting for the move to Texas." "That's right," Cathy replied knowing exactly what Teva meant. "Does he know?" "No, but I don't think he'll complain," Cathy answered with a smile. Teva went over and got Karen's attention so that Mike could join Sanjay in the backyard. The sooner he went out back, the sooner she could talk with Cathy. Picking up Karen, Teva said, "Sanjay is replacing the gas tank on the grill." "Ah, I bet he could use a little help," Mike said standing up. When Mike stepped out into the backyard, Sanjay looked up and said, "I hate these gas tanks. You never know when they are about empty until you run out of gas. It always happens in the middle of cooking steaks." "Yeah," Mike agreed. He knelt down to watch Sanjay work at loosening a rusted wing nut that held the bracket that kept the tank in place. "So someone code named the Hunter discovered the real leadership of the Jihad," Sanjay said glancing over at Mike. "So it appears," Mike said. "I bet you were happy when the President named you," Sanjay said. The sarcasm in his voice was impossible to miss. He had just about fallen out of his chair when the President had identified the Hunter as the individual responsible for identifying the leaders of the Jihad. "You can say that again. Every mayor and police chief of every large city in the country refers to me by that name," Mike said shaking his head. "I'm glad that I'm not you," Sanjay said with a smile. Everyone in Homeland Security was already speculating that Mike was the Hunter. He had even received a call or two asking him if he knew whether or not Mike was the Hunter. Grinning, Mike said, "I was thinking that the next time I was asked about it that I'd point over to you." "You wouldn't dare," Sanjay said with a mock look of horror on his face. The wing nut finally released its rusted grasp and turned free. "I wouldn't do that to you," Mike said with a laugh. Sanjay lifted the old gas tank out of the barbecue and set it on the ground. Mike handed him the new tank. As he put the fresh tank in the barbecue, Sanjay asked, "Why did he do it?" "I think he wanted to give me credit for it," Mike answered. "Maybe you're right. The press is going to want to find out the identity of the Hunter. What are you going to do when they come knocking on your door?" Sanjay asked. "I'll give the standard answer — I can't confirm or deny that I have any knowledge concerning the identity of the Hunter," Mike answered. "They are going to love that," Sanjay said rolling his eyes. The press viewed that line as an admission of guilt. "I know," Mike replied with a sigh. Looking over at the uniformed man standing in his backyard, Sanjay asked, "So how many Marines did you bring with you?" "Four," Mike answered. There had not been a reduction in the number of Marines guarding him despite the fact that the operation to remove the leadership of the Jihad Movement was complete. "Oh. I told Teva to buy eight extra steaks," Sanjay said tightening the connector to the tank. He straightened up and asked, "How much longer do you think you'll have bodyguards?" "I don't know," Mike answered in disgust. It was tiresome having an entourage everywhere he went. ------- Monday morning Tony looked over at Mike and, to no one in particular, asked, "Does anyone have any idea as to who the Hunter might be?" All eyes turned to Mike. Shrugging his shoulders, Mike answered, "Your guess is as good as mine." As snorts of disbelief filled the room, Shirley said, "I don't think there is a single person in this room who has to guess." Mike ignored the comment and said, "I guess we had better get to work protecting the country from those who mean it ill. Has anything happened that hasn't made it on the news yet?" "Mohammad bin Laden was killed early this morning in Yemen. His organization was taken out when they were trying to flee to Djibouti. They were on a boat when it was sunk by one of our Navy pilots. Al-Qaeda is no more," Tony answered. "I take it that the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army has been destroyed as well," Mike said knowing that if Yemen had fallen so had the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army. "That's right." Mike figured that both of those stories would be on the news later that day. He asked, "What's happening in Israel?" "The Air Force has been dropping Daisy Cutters over Israel all weekend. By the time they are done there won't be a person left alive," Tony answered. The Daisy Cutters were being used in the hopes that they would allow the historical stone structures to survive. The shock wave from the explosion was destructive, but nowhere near as destructive as the impact of the payload launched by rail gun or the explosion of a cruise missile. Mike nodded his head thinking about the two dozen terrorist organizations they had already destroyed. Israel was filled with the most radical elements of the Muslim world. They had poured into the country thinking that it would be the first place the United States tried to liberate. He said, "So that means that as soon as Israel falls we've eliminated Hezbollah, Hamas, and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. With al-Qaeda gone, all we've got left is the Army of Allah, the Armed Islamic Group of Algeria, the Egyptian Islamic Jihad, and the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat." "The Army of Allah is bottled up in Oman. They won't last a week," Shirley said. Charlie said, "We won't be able to go after the Egyptian Islamic Jihad until we invade Egypt." "What's going on in Somalia?" Mike asked. "Nothing new. People are killing people," Tony answered in disgust. ------- "Do you think I'm an idiot?" President Archer asked looking at Mike more than a little irritated. "No," Mike answered ready to unload on the President about having exposed him. "As soon as I heard the news report, I figured out that the Mr. X identified in your report was Stanley Roberts. Why in the hell didn't you put that in your report? You could have told me." Rather than explain, Mike opened his briefcase and extracted a small report. Handing it to President Archer, he said, "This is the report on Stanley Roberts." President Archer grabbed the report and opened it up. Ignoring Mike, he read the contents. By the end of the first page, he was frowning. By the end of the third page, the vein in his forehead was throbbing. He threw down the report and said, "I'm going to kill those bastards." "You can't, sir," Mike said knowing that the man was referring to the elected officials who had been put into office by Stanley Roberts. "Why in the hell not?" Mike sighed and answered, "As far as I can tell, those men ran campaigns based on their actual convictions. They truly believed that the war on terrorism was a crime. They accepted his campaign money and advice in a legitimate manner. The people elected them to office because they represented the attitudes and beliefs of the voters. The reason I didn't include his name in the report is that I was pretty sure that one or more of them would have confronted him." Realizing the Mike was probably right about someone confronting Stanley Roberts, he knew that such a confrontation would have destroyed the entire operation. Shaking his head, President Archer said, "It is hard to believe that someone with so much political power would work so hard to destroy his own country. You'd think he'd work inside the system to make whatever changes he wanted." "I know," Mike said thinking that the man had been working inside the system to make the changes that he wanted. Unfortunately, he wanted the destruction of the country and his actions had been very effective. The reasons for Stanley Roberts actions would remain a mystery. Perhaps some biographer or historian would dig up something in the man's past that would explain it, but Mike doubted it. Shaking his head, President Archer said, "I was sure that you had left me out of the loop because you didn't trust me. I'm sorry about that." "Is that why you told the entire country about me?" President Archer gave a sad little laugh and said, "No. I was pissed at you, but I did it for another reason altogether." "Why?" President Archer sat back in his chair and considered his answer. He said, "There haven't been any heroes in the war overseas. Although your father's name is pretty well recognized, no one's name has risen to the top of the heap to serve as a national figurehead for this war. Can you believe that we've been fighting for more than two years and there hasn't been a single Congressional Medal of Honor awarded?" "I wasn't aware of that. I guess I hadn't thought about it," Mike said with a frown. "This has been the first true push button war. Since we engaged the enemy in India there hasn't been any pitched battles between our men and the enemy, at least from our perspective," President Archer said. Launching waves of Pigeons was hard work, but it wasn't the same as facing the enemy directly. Dropping bombs from well outside the range of the enemies' ability to strike out at them wasn't the same as pitched dogfights in the air. "That's true." He looked at Mike and said, "The real man to man engagements occurred here on American soil involving local law enforcement and the National Guard units. Let's be honest, the Army, Air Force, and Marines played a very minor role. Our helicopter pilots were the most significant contribution to the end of the terrorists here. The Navy moved ships around and provided relief." "That's true," Mike said. Vincent had often said that the Navy's role in the domestic side of the war had been very insignificant. More often than not, it was the Navy Medics who moved in after riots were over to patch up the civilians who had been injured. The local hospitals didn't have enough beds to support provide the quantity of medical care that was often necessary. "The true heroes in this war were you guys in Homeland Security. Even the enemy knew that. That is why they targeted Homeland Security with their dirty bombs. That is why they tried to finish the job with the raid that you and your Indian friend stopped. The American people don't know what you've done for them," President Archer said. "Wasn't there someone better?" "No," President Archer answered with a short laugh. Mike had been awarded every civilian honor that was possible. "I'm sure that you're mistaken," Mike said. President Archer laughed and shook his head. He said, "The war is nearly over. I had to give the people someone to be the hero. I thought that giving them the Hunter would be a good way for the country to learn about what Homeland Security did to return our homeland to a safe state." "Semper Fi," Mike muttered. All of the dirty jobs fell to the Marines. The President said, "I'll be leaving this office in less than a year. I'm going to miss it. There are times when I really regret not running for another term." Mike said, "I have dealt with three of the previous Presidents. I have to say that of all of the men who I've met that have held this office, you have impressed me the most. I think that you are unique among all of the men who've held that office. You could have won re-election but stepped down for the benefit of the country. That's a rare quality among men in politics. I think that history will speak well of you." "Thank you. That means a lot to me coming from you." "You're welcome," Mike said. "I'm going to miss our little discussions. I hope that we can meet on occasion once I've left office," President Archer said. "We can, but I won't be nearly as respectful," Mike said with a smile. "Respectful? Is that what you call it?" President Archer asked in pretend disbelief. "Yes. Sometimes I even say sir when I talk to you." "That's true." There was one thing that was still bothering President Archer. Curious, he asked, "So who ordered the death of Stanley Roberts?" "The leadership of the Intelligence 100," Mike answered. Seeing the surprised look on the President's face, Mike said, "The Intelligence 100 was to provide the means for this country to survive threats imposed by foreign agents when the politics of the situation prevented an appropriate response. This was one case where the leadership felt that applied. Although Stanley Roberts wasn't a foreigner, he was a co-conspirator with them and the politics of his wealth and influence would have prevented an appropriate response." "Who is in the leadership of the Intelligence 100?" Shaking his head, Mike answered, "I'm not at liberty to answer that question." ------- Chapter 48 The march of the American military across the world ended with the same suddenness as it had begun. With the fall of Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, and Somalia there just weren't any more major countries left to fight. The Europeans had been trying to deal with Libya, Tunisia, Morocco, and Algeria. That ended when the Americans gave the British a half of a million Pigeons. The conflict came to a very decisive end. The South America countries were predominately Catholic. Having seen the destruction that resulted when the Americans took care of the problem of Islamic fascists, the governments there went after the Muslim enclaves. Many politicians in Central and South America discovered that the support they had been getting from some very wealthy people had dried up. A lot of anti-American rhetoric tapered off to nothing. With the fighting at an end, the Americans packed up and left the areas they had conquered. They left behind minimal forces to protect the oil facilities and a few lightly staffed military bases. It wasn't quite clear who they were protecting the oil fields from, but no one wanted to tempt fate by trying to take an oil field. The oil was flowing just as it had been before the Americans had started their march across the Muslim world. The price of oil had even stabilized now that threats to the supply had ended. The troops returned home to muted celebrations. The country was proud of the men and women who had achieved victory, but the pride was tinged with a small seed of shame. There had been a lot of death and no one really knew how to deal with the national guilt of having killed so many people. That uncertainty was reflected in the primaries. The candidates for President who won their parties primaries were very moderate across all of the political issues. It looked like the fight for President was going to be less divisive, but more closely contested. The two men had different philosophies on how to go about resolving the major issues, but they basically agreed on what the issues were and what a successful resolution would require. The American electorate had changed significantly over the past eight years. It had learned from experience that the men and women elected to lead the country had a real effect on their day to day lives. No one could forget the fear that had been present when terrorists had been running around the country killing at will. The lesson that what occurred in other countries could affect life in America had also been ingrained into the average American. People watched and discussed international news with the kind of passion that had once been given to professional sports. The cable services now carried television channels from just about every country in the world. One surprising consequence was the number of people who were learning foreign languages so that they could watch the news without having to read the subtitles. Although people were learning foreign languages in greater numbers than ever in the past, the only language heard in public was English. Even speaking Spanish could trigger a very negative reaction from others. The exception was when someone wanted to insult a foreign country. At those times, they would use the appropriate language to make sure that anyone of that country knew they were being insulted. ------- President Archer made a visit to the General Assembly of the United Nations accompanied by the two candidates for President. In a speech that was broadcast around the world, he announced the end of America's involvement in the war on terror. He was moving into the third phase of his plan to make the world safe for Americans. He then laid out what he called the Archer Doctrine. Within it was a four point plan for the future of American relations with the rest of the world. He warned those in attendance that they would not like the Archer Doctrine. Based on his reputation, everyone in the audience braced for the worst. The first point of his plan stunned everyone including the translators. The United States was going to withdraw as a member nation. This was effectively the death knell for the United Nations. He also said that the United Nations was no longer welcome in New York. President Archer waited until there was some sort of reaction from those in attendance. Once he was sure that he had their attention, he said that the United Nations, if it was going to continue to exist, had until the end of his term to leave the country. The second point to his plan convinced everyone gathered in the General Assembly room that the United States was turning completely isolationist. He said that all embassies and consulates in the United States were going to be closed. It was his contention that having foreign agents running loose inside the country was foolish from a security perspective. As was the case with the United Nations, they had until the end of his term to vacate the country. The practice of state visits could continue, but they would require significant lead time to arrange. All American Embassies overseas were going to close as well. He argued that with telephones, video conference capabilities, and news services that the old practices of having physical representation within another country had outlived its usefulness. He stated that within a month all embassies and consulates would be emptied of all American personnel. Part of his plan was the establishment of an international complex in which ambassadors of every country could meet. It was already being built in Mexico, a country that was now an American Protectorate. Centralized meeting facilities would be constructed and managed by the United States, but that was as far as the country was willing to go. Countries would be given land and could build whatever living and meeting facilities they wanted on that land. Any signs of weapons entering or exiting those facilities would be viewed as an act of war. The third point of his plan was that the American border of the country proper was going to remain closed to everyone until one of his successors opened it. Most of the terrorists had entered the United States through legitimate means. Some came as immigrants while others came as tourists and businessmen. Until a means of protecting the country from individuals who meant it harm had been put into place, America was not accepting the huddled masses cast off by other countries. He also argued that countries needed to start taking better care of its citizens. There was no reason why so many should want to flee their country of origin. If people wanted to come to the United States because of the opportunities it provided, then why weren't the opportunities available where they originated? Too much of America's problem with immigration was actually a symptom of problems in other countries. He demanded that the other countries take care of their problems first before expecting the United States to open its arms to their citizens. Until the borders were opened, all trade with America was going to have to flow through Mexico. All products being shipped to the United States would have to pass through one of three major ports of Mexico. Once goods reached the port, the final leg of transportation would have to be performed by an American shipping company. Representatives of foreign companies would have to meet in Mexico to arrange contracts with America firms. International companies would have to have their headquarters in Mexico and would not be allowed to have managers with foreign citizenship inside the United States. The fourth point of his plan was that America was not going to provide any economic, technical, or political aid to any nation in the world until the world came up with a new model for international relations. He stressed that this model would have to assure that the situation that had led to the war on terrorism would never occur again. He warned them that whatever model was adopted would have to be acceptable to the United States and that it would no longer accept any treaty that was detrimental to the security of the country. In a very forceful manner, he said that the United States would not accept a world government. There was no way that the country would accept being an equal partner with third world nations that couldn't handle their own problems. There was no way that the country would accept dictators who stepped into power through force of arms as having any voice in what happened inside America. Too many countries in the United Nations had actively worked to destroy America as a superpower rather than try to improve their own countries to the same level. He also accepted that not giving those countries a voice would return the world to a state of tension equal to, or worse than, what had triggered the latest upheaval. The model for international relations would have to give those countries choices with which they could live. The days of throwing money at problems had to come to an end. He pointed to the two candidates for his office and identified that it would be up to one of them to direct America's contribution to the development of that model. He warned the representatives that America had a very powerful weapon in its political war chest. If the next President was not satisfied with the progress being made towards establishing a realistic model for international relations, they could always cut off the supply of oil to the rest of the world. Mike watched the speech with a smile on his face. The first point of Archer Doctrine was long overdue. He felt that the inability of the United Nations to solve any real international problems had led directly to the war on terror. How many resolutions did it take before the United Nations would enforce one? How could they put a nation that had more human rights violations than any other country in charge of human rights? How many times had the United Nations stood by and watched a country kill off its own people in bloodbaths? As far as Mike was concerned, the United Nations was a useless organization. Like the old League of Nations, the United Nations didn't deserve to remain functioning. There was one area where the United Nations had been effective and that was in the area of disease. The United Nations had stamped out smallpox. Mike had talked with President Archer and the two candidates about the need to continue the World Health Organization. His argument had won the day and it was the one UN organization that the country would continue to support. He had accepted that it could be headquartered in Mexico just as easily as in New York. Mike felt that the second point should have been implemented early in the war on terror. Although President Archer had closed the borders to all visas, he had reopened the border for diplomats. Each country was granted fifty diplomatic visas. Now he was closing the border to even the diplomats. Homeland Security had found that many of the individuals sent over were trying to re- establish the spy networks that had been closed when so many people had been arrested as a result of the work of the Intelligence 100. Mike believed that closing embassies and consulates would actually have a much broader and positive effect than most people would expect. For impoverished countries, the cost of establishing quality communications was a lot less than staffing embassies in every country in the world. They would also be able to save the cost of hosting embassies. He wasn't sure how much countries like Moldova had to spend every year, but he was sure that it was a pretty significant amount. With the United States as an example, he expected that most countries would chose to close their offices in other countries as well. The idea of using Mexico as a buffer zone between the United States and the rest of the world had come out of left field. Mike had no idea who had suggested that little idea, but someone in the State Department deserved a raise for it. One of the arguments for keeping the United Nations alive was that the world needed a place where representatives could meet to discuss problems of mutual interest and resolve conflicts. The International Complex in Mexico would serve that purpose. It did so without creating a bureaucracy that would eventually become corrupt. Watching the news with Mike, Cathy had listened to the Archer Doctrine trying to comprehend the full consequences of it. Shaking her head, she said, "I think we live in interesting times." "I disagree with you on that. I think that the interesting times have come to an end. I imagine that the next few years are going to be very boring," Mike said. "You might be right," Cathy said watching the interviews with various diplomats after the speech. She gestured to the television and said, "The Secretary General looks like he swallowed a lemon." Mike laughed and said, "Someone should point out that he gets the unique opportunity to be the last Secretary General of the United Nations. I'm sure that would cheer him up a little." Cathy looked at him out of the corner of her eye and asked, "Has anyone ever told you that you can be a ruthless bastard on occasion?" Mike laughed at the question and said, "President Archer says that to me just about every time we meet. In fact, that seems to be a general consensus among Presidents." "Okay, I was just checking," Cathy replied with a smile. The tone of the interviews seemed to change a little as the points of the Archer Doctrine sank in. After a representative from Paraguay suggested that maybe the Americans had a point, Mike said, "I think they are beginning to realize that President Archer did not cut diplomatic relations with anyone. He just changed the nature of those relations." "I wonder how many people studying international relations in college are pulling their hair out right about now," Cathy said. ------- Although the sale of the house had not yet been completed, Mike handed the keys for the house to Bob. Gesturing to his house, he said, "I hope you enjoy living here as much as I did." "I'm sure I'll enjoy it," Bob said. He had gone on the inspection walkthrough of the house. The inspector had been very impressed with the quality of the work in the house. Everything was well above code. Bob was sure that he'd be able to live there for a long time without having to perform repairs. "Let me tell you a little about the neighborhood before we go. The neighbors over there are pretty nice, but I understand they're moving," Mike said pointing over to Bob's house. Bob laughed when Mike had pointed to his house. Pointing to his house, he said, "I heard the people who live there are an old pair of fuddy-duddies." "They'll surprise you," Mike said with a wink. "We're going to miss having you for neighbors," Bob said looking down at the grass. If asked, he'd be hard pressed to say why he liked Mike so much from the first time he had met him. He recalled getting asked about Mike by the FBI agent when Mike had first moved into the neighborhood. After living with loud neighbors, his first reaction was to worry, but Mike's casual acceptance had relieved any concerns. "You've been a very good neighbor. I owe you a lot of thanks for all the things you've done for me," Mike said. "It is going to be boring around here with you gone," Bob said with a grin. Looking over at the car where Cathy and Kim waited for him, Mike said, "I guess I had better go before Kim starts yelling at me." Bob chuckled at the reference to who ruled Mike's house. He held out a hand and said, "I wish you a safe trip." "Thanks." Mike shook Bob's hand and said, "Goodbye, Bob." "Take care of yourself, Mike," Bob said watching Mike walk over to his car. Mike was the most capable person of taking care of himself and his family that he knew. ------- Mike realized that he had made a mistake in planning the route by which they were driving to Texas as soon as they hit Tennessee. Until that time everything had gone perfectly. The plan was to drive four hundred miles the first day, four hundred miles the second day, and the remainder of the twelve hundred mile trip the third day. They could have made the trip in two days, but he didn't want to kill himself with driving ten or more hours a day. After discussing the matter with Cathy, they had agreed that shorter seven hour segments would be much better. They could sleep late, have breakfast and leave at a reasonable hour. They could stop and have long relaxing lunches at nice places. They would be able to spend a late evening by the pool or at the bar having drinks. To help pass the time, Mike and Cathy were playing a little game making up sentences out of the letters on license plates. Cathy pointed to a car with the license plate, 'WER 897.' She said, "Women enjoy romance." "I never would have guessed that," Mike said with a wink. A car pulled in front of them with the license plate, 'CLA 329.' Mike pointed at it and said, "Cathy loves anal." Cathy laughed and said, "I don't know which Cathy you're talking about, but I guarantee you that it isn't the same one sitting in the car with you." "Aw," Mike said just in time to see a large sign by the side of the highway. Mike pointed to it and said, "Welcome to Tennessee." That was the moment when Mike's travels plan were thrown out the window. A quiet little voice rose from the back seat and spoke one word that sent chills down Mike's spine. "Elvis." Cathy glanced at Mike and giggled at the look on his face. She knew how it was going to turn out and wondered if Mike was going to give in easily or go down fighting. Instead of saying anything, Mike kept his eyes on the road trying to pretend that he hadn't heard anything. A little louder, Kim said, "Elvis." Mike turned up the radio and continued driving. He knew the battle was over when Kim tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Elvis. We go see Elvis." "You mean Graceland?" Mike asked. "Yes. I go see his home," Kim said. She looked at him with a hopeful smile. "We'll get to Memphis too late tomorrow to see Graceland," Mike said gently. He hoped that by not exactly saying no to her that he could cut off the discussion. It was a slim chance and he knew it. Seated in the backseat of the car, Kim had spent most of day looking over the map. She said, "No. I work it out on the map. We drive a little longer today and get closer to Memphis. We leave tomorrow very early and get there by noon. I get to see Elvis." Mike looked over at Cathy to see what she thought of the idea. She shrugged her shoulders and said, "We can relax by the pool while she goes to Graceland." "Okay," Mike said knowing that he wasn't going to win this one. Thinking that his plans for a leisurely trip had just gone out the window, he said, "Alright. Where do we stop for the night?" ------- Mike pulled into Memphis feeling tired and irritable. Cathy wasn't in much better shape. As soon as they had checked into the hotel, Kim was in a taxi and on her way to Graceland. Shaking his head, Mike had watched her go off. He said, "I never would have pegged her as an Elvis fan." "She's a surprising woman at times," Cathy said. Once Mike had agreed to adjust the schedule so that Kim could visit Graceland, Kim had regaled them with little details about the life of Elvis. "Yes," Mike said. He looked over at the chain restaurant next to the hotel. He was hungry and didn't want to spend the time to look for a better place to eat. He asked, "How about a little lunch over at that place there?" "I'll eat anything," Cathy said. The convenience store breakfast hadn't been all that good or filling. "After we get something to eat, would you like to take a nap?" "You bet," Cathy said. Getting up at five in the morning so that they could reach Memphis by noon was not her idea of a nice leisurely drive. As they walked over to the restaurant, Mike said, "This is not how I planned the trip." "I know, but visiting Graceland means so much to Kim," Cathy said. "I know. If I had known that she wanted to see Graceland, I would have added a day to our travel time," Mike said. Cathy looked over at Mike realizing that he would have done exactly that. She wrapped an arm around his and said, "Yes, but I don't think she realized that we would be driving through Memphis until we hit the road." "Right," Mike said holding the door of the restaurant open for Cathy. She passed through the doorway thinking that she was lucky to have married a man who still held the door open for women. He even held the chair out for her when they were led to the table. More than one woman watched with envy. Once Mike had taken his seat, Cathy said, "Thank you." "For what?" Mike asked puzzled. "For being so considerate. You make me feel so special. Half of the women in this place wish they were me," Cathy said looking around the room. "It is just how I was raised," Mike said. "Thank you, any way," Cathy said. After the waitress took their orders, Mike said, "I can't wait to get to Texas. I feel like we are starting all over again." "Same here," Cathy said. Looking around nervously, Mike broached a topic that they had been avoiding. He asked, "What do you think about having a child or two when we get settled into our new house?" "I like the idea. I like it a lot," Cathy said. She'd been worried about how she was going to raise the subject. "Good. Me, too," Mike said smiling broadly. Cathy looked across the table at Mike feeling more in love with him than ever. She leaned across the table and, in a voice that wouldn't carry beyond him, said, "I love you Mike Bowman." "I love you, Cathy Bowman," Mike replied. ------- The visit to Graceland had affected Kim far more than she had thought it would. It had been a bittersweet experience. Listening to the music during the tour had brought back many memories of her days as a younger woman. They had just crossed into Texas from Arkansas when Kim realized that she hadn't thanked Mike for going out of the way so that she could visit Graceland. She tapped him on the shoulder and said, "Thank you so much for letting me see Elvis." "It was no problem. I'm glad that you got a chance to see it," Mike said. After their nap the previous afternoon, Cathy and he had repeated major parts of their honeymoon. It had turned into a pleasant stay at the hotel. Kim had been very quiet after her visit to Graceland. She hadn't really said more than three words since breakfast. Pleased to see her starting to talk again, Cathy turned in her seat and asked, "How did you get so interested in Elvis?" Kim stared out the window for a minute with a frown. She wanted to answer the question, but believed that having Mike and Cathy learn the truth about her would turn them against her. She answered, "You won't like me any more if I tell you." "There's nothing that you can say that will make us not like you," Cathy said. Nodding his head, Mike said, "I am rather curious about that myself. How did you get so interested in Elvis?" With her past touching her present so strongly, Kim was unable to resist the desire to talk about it. Hoping that Teva would take her in once Mike and Cathy chased her away, Kim said, "When I was little girl, I was sold by my father. The man who bought me sent me to a brothel in Bangkok. While there, I listened to American music because many of customers were Americans. I liked the music sung by Elvis the most. Sometimes while listening to it I could imagine that I wasn't a whore." Stunned, Cathy said, "That's horrible." "My God," Mike said griping the steering wheel with white knuckles. He wanted a few minutes with Kim's father. After Mike was done with him, he would never sell another person ever again. Expecting their wrath upon learning that they had a whore living with them, Kim cowered in the backseat. Voice quivering, she said, "You think I'm a horrible person. Now that you know what I am, you send me away. I don't blame you." Angry at what he heard, Mike said, "We're not going to send you away." Feeling a little angry herself, Cathy said, "I don't think you're horrible. How could any father sell his child? That's the most terrible thing I've ever heard." "I was girl child. Girl child not worth anything," Kim said with tears rolling down her cheeks. "That's bullshit," Mike said, "Every child is worth the world. Nothing is more valuable than a child." "You can say that again," Cathy said nodding her head. She growled, "Any man who would sell his child should be hung by the balls and beaten like a piñata." "That's right," Mike said glancing in the mirror at Kim sobbing in the backseat. He tapped Cathy on the thigh and gestured to the backseat with his thumb while he pulled off of the highway. His gesture was out of sight of Kim. Cathy gave an appreciative nod to Mike and got out of the car once it came to a stop. She got in the backseat with Kim and hugged the woman. Kim was sobbing uncontrollably. As Cathy patted Kim on the back, she said, "Now, now. We're going to take care of you. Everything is going to be all right." Mike pulled back onto the highway thinking that the last two hours of the drive were going to be the longest of the entire trip. He kept glancing in the mirror to see how things were going with Kim. Although she had long been a major presence in the house, he decided that it was time that Kim became a real member of the family. He looked at the countryside around him. It was nowhere near as crowded as the area from which they had moved. He noticed a man driving a tractor across a field and was struck by the idea that as he was rushing past at nearly seventy miles per hour, the guy on the tractor was moving at less than ten. Maybe it was time for him to slow down and take life a little easier. Glancing in the mirror, he said, "All of us are starting a new life with this move." ------- Chapter 49 Karen ran from the house to greet Mike when he pulled up in his bass boat at Sanjay's dock. She was now thirteen years old and thoroughly Texan. She stood at the end of the dock waving to him and shouting, "Unk!" "Hello, Sweetie. How's my favorite niece doing today?" Mike called back as he brought the boat up to the dock. "I'm fine," Karen answered as she caught the rope he tossed to her. She tied the boat to the dock with practiced ease. She said, "Daddy will be here in a minute. He's torturing the guy my sister is dating." "How is he doing that?" Mike asked with a smile. He turned off the motor on the boat. "He's telling a story about you and him facing down a squad of terrorists who were trying to take out Homeland Security," Karen answered with a giggle. She didn't believe that her Daddy was really capable of doing those kinds of things. He was just too nice. She added, "I don't think the boy is going to believe him. I mean, we're talking about my Daddy." Mike held up his left hand and pointed to the stubby middle finger. He said, "That's when I lost half of this finger." "Do you mean that story is true?" Karen asked wide eyed. "Yes. Your father is a hero and a lot of people owe him their lives. He was even given a medal for it," Mike said. "Wow, I didn't realize that," Karen said. She knew that her father worked for Homeland Security, but she didn't think that he actually fought terrorists. This was the first that she heard about her father getting a medal. "That's in the past," Mike said. Karen looked at Mike and realized that he had just admitted to fighting terrorists with her father. He never talked about that kind of stuff. She wanted to ask for more details, but held back. Her mother would tell her everything that she wanted to know. Her mother was always talking about what a great hero Mike was. She asked, "Did Daddy know the Hunter?" "What's the matter with his boat?" Mike asked to change the subject. When he had called about going fishing that evening, Sanjay had suggested that they take Mike's boat since his had a problem. "The wire to his fish finder is corroded. You can't go fishing without a fish finder," Karen answered unsurprised by the change in subject. Nobody ever answered any of her questions about the mysterious Hunter. "That's right. Finding those fish is serious business," Mike said winking at her. "It looks like a great evening for fishing," Karen said looking out at the lake and sighing. The water was calm and the temperature was comfortable. She really wanted to go fishing with Mike and her father. "Are you going with us?" Mike asked as he climbed out of the boat. Now that he was out of the boat, Karen hugged him. In a ritual that had begun when she had started walking, he picked her up and they rubbed noses. Soon he wouldn't have to pick her up to rub noses with her. With obvious disappointment in her voice, she said, "No. I have a paper due at school on the current elections in China. Those guys are so boring that it makes my head hurt." It continued to amaze Mike that kids were so knowledgeable about what was going on in foreign countries. When he was Karen's age, most kids didn't even know where the United States was on a world map. He said, "I'm sure that you'll write a great paper." "Daddy would kill me if I got less than an A on a political paper," Karen said rolling her eyes. Sanjay walked down the path to the dock carrying his rod and tackle box. Raising his rod in a salute, he said, "Hello Mike." "Hello Sanjay. I heard that your fish finder is out," Mike said. "Yes. I'm going to stop and get a new one tomorrow," Sanjay said. He was going to get the new one with GPS navigation that had the entire lake floor mapped out. He paused to look at Karen and said, "Your mother says that you have a paper to work on tonight. You better get back up to the house and get to work." "Yes, Daddy," Karen said. She gave Mike another hug and said, "I hope you catch a big one, Unk." "I'll try, Sweetie," Mike said. He watched Karen run up to the house. She was starting to turn into a young woman. Pretty soon Sanjay would be chasing the boys away. Turning to Sanjay, he said, "They sure grow up fast, don't they?" "Yes," Sanjay said. The boys were circling his daughters like sharks around a wounded seal. While he put his fishing gear in the boat, he asked, "How's Vincent and Susan?" "Susan takes after her mother. She's always good. Unfortunately Vincent takes after me." "What did he do now?" Sanjay asked. He had wondered why Vincent wasn't in the boat. Undoubtedly, the boy was grounded again. It seemed to him that the boy was always grounded. Mike tended to be a very strict father. "He told his geography teacher, 'Fuck France and all of the Frenchmen in it, ' when she asked him to point out France on the map," Mike answered. The young man was smart as a whip, but his mouth found some very creative ways of getting in trouble. Sanjay wasn't surprised at Vincent telling a teacher something like that even though he was just ten years old. Vincent was actually a pretty good kid and wanted to be a Marine when he grew up. The problem was that he tended to say things in a rather blunt and direct fashion. Pretty sure that he knew the answer to his question, he asked, "Did he say it in French?" "Of course. If you want to insult France, do it in French so they know they've been insulted," Mike answered getting back into the boat. Shaking his head, he added, "It wasn't that he didn't know where France was on the map, it is just that he doesn't like the French." Sanjay laughed. As he untied the boat and climbed into it, he said, "He shares your attitude towards the French." "That's true," Mike said. President Archer's address to the United Nations had laid a basic idealistic foundation for international relations. The reality that emerged fell far short of that ideal, but it was still an improvement over what had been in place. France was one of the countries that fought the hardest against the changes. Once they were far enough from the dock that their wake wouldn't cause a problem, Mike cranked up the engine and headed out at a fast clip. Shouting to be heard over the engine, Sanjay asked, "Where are we going?" "I'm going to take us to the point," Mike shouted back while gesturing to the place he thought they would try first. It didn't take them long to get to their destination since it was just at the end of the little inlet on which their properties were located. When they reached the spot, Mike cut the engine and let the boat drift. He said, "We'll try here." "Great," Sanjay said grabbing his fishing rod. They had caught a couple of fish in that area in the past. Mike picked up his rod and said, "Karen asked me about the Hunter again." "It is that stupid movie. It has everyone talking about the Hunter again," Sanjay said shaking his head. Hollywood had just released another movie about the Hunter. It had to be the fifth or sixth movie about the Hunter. In this one, the Hunter was portrayed as some sort of super spy like James Bond. "Speaking of stupid movies, are you going out to the university Saturday?" Mike asked. "I wouldn't miss it for the world. You, your Dad, James Wentworth the Third, and President Anthony Archer on a stage to discuss the war is going to be a pretty interesting evening. I can't wait to hear what you have to say on the matter," Sanjay said winking at Mike. "I'm just the moderator," Mike said pledging to himself that he wouldn't say anything other than to moderate the discussion. "I'm even taking the kids despite how late it will be when we get home," Sanjay said. Mike's rod bent as a fish struck his lure. He shouted, "I got one!" ------- Cathy returned from work to find Kim setting the table for dinner. Kim was no longer just the housekeeper; she was a member of the family. Household chores were shared among everyone at the house. The kids called her Aunt Kim and were just as likely to go to her for permission to do something as their parents. Kim rarely used the voice except on the kids, but they seemed immune to it. Cathy hugged Kim and said, "Hello." Kim kissed Cathy on the cheek and said, "Mike is in the living room." "I'll be back to help with dinner," Cathy said. Ever since the move to Texas, Cathy always helped with the meals. Kim appreciated the help and the company. Smiling, Kim said, "Take your time." Cathy went into the living room where Mike was seated in his comfort chair watching the news. Despite the fact that he was basically facing away from her, he turned towards her as soon as she entered the room. He asked, "How was work?" "Boring as always," Cathy answered. She had finished her internship and was now an entry level intelligence analyst. After three years in that position, she was on the short list for promotion. "Isn't there anything interesting happening in Asia?" Mike asked. "No," Cathy answered. The world of international politics had become very boring over the past ten years. It seemed to her like everyone was more focused on what was going on in their own backyards rather than beyond their white picket fences. Trade always remained the one source of tension, but the international quarters in Mexico provided a good location for hammering out those tensions. "How about the elections in China?" Mike asked. "No major surprises there. There were no riots, protests, or charges of election fixing. Everything is quiet," Cathy said. Smiling at the suggestion that she was bored, Mike said, "Remember that it is important to be vigilant." "That's what the sign over the door says," Cathy said with a smile. Mike had the message, 'Always Vigilant, Ever Diligent, ' carved in the concrete arch that was over the main entrance to the building. She asked, "Did anything interesting happen on the news?" "They finally arrested Reverend Brown," Mike answered making reference to a rather radical individual who was preaching that Christians should rise up and eliminate all Muslims and Jews. "Federal or international charges?" Cathy asked. For a country to be free to trade in the international marketplace it had to abide by certain international laws. The laws weren't really that much of an imposition and, with a few exceptions, reflected statutes that most countries already had on their books. The difference today was that failure to enforce them could isolate a country very quickly. Gross violations resulted in the armies of the entire world knocking on their door. Mike answered, "International. They charged him with Incitement to Commit Crusade/Jihad." "That's a death penalty crime," Cathy said rather surprised by the charge. "Yes, but he was really pushing it. He went on television and called for Christians around the world to unite and take up arms," Mike said. With the entire world watching the television programs of every country in the world, getting on television and spouting that kind of nonsense was a very quick way to get charged with a crime. "No wonder they charged him with that. What's happening in Israel?" Cathy asked noticing the end of a story about Israel on the television. "They're still debating if it should be international territory like Antarctica or remain an American Protectorate," Mike answered. At the moment no one lived in Israel although many people visited it. The American forces had built a fence around the city of Jerusalem and allowed people to visit the area for the day. The only thing people were allowed to take in with them was water and they weren't allowed to leave with anything. "That will take a century to resolve," Cathy said shaking her head. It was a complicated mess. Almost all of the Jews living in Israel at the time it fell had died in the fight for the city of Jerusalem. Of those that survived the fall of Israel, the majority were killed in the war. After five years of sexual abuse and torture, few of the female survivors were sane. The children who had survived didn't know enough about their family to identify their property rights. Thousands of relatives and other interested parties had cropped up claiming property, but it was difficult to claim a condominium that no longer existed. Without a government backing a currency, monetary assets were worthless. The businesses were gone. "I'd rather we take our time with that than to rush in and create another problem," Mike said. "The Jews want their homeland back," Cathy said. "And I'm sure that they'll get it back. It is going to be a little different this time than it was the last time. This time there won't be any disputes about who owns the land," Mike said. Cathy asked, "Speaking of disputes, where are the kids?" Chuckling at the suggestion that the kids were fighting, Mike answered, "I've got them separated. Susan is in her room playing a game with her friends on the computer. Vincent is out on the dock fishing." "Did they finish their homework?" "Yes," Mike answered with a smile. She was a very diligent mother in making sure that the kids were always prepared for school the next day. "Did you check it?" Trying to look blank, Mike answered, "No." "Why not?" Cathy asked wondering why he had such a stupid expression on his face. "Their material is way beyond me. Did you know that kids today can count to eleven? In my day, we only had to count to ten. I run out of fingers at eight and then I get confused. They even know the whole alphabet. All I ever needed was ABC," Mike answered as he scratched his head. "You're horrible," Cathy said swatting him lightly on the arm. He had been hanging around Sanjay too much. Laughing, she said, "I don't know why I love you so much." ------- Mike stood at a podium to the side of the well lit stage. President Archer, General Bowman, and James Wentworth the Third were seated in comfortable chairs on the other side of the stage. The auditorium was filled with college students, faculty, visitors, and press to watch the first discussion of World War III by the three major players. For the University of North Texas, this event was a major coup. The discussion was being broadcast live on the Public Broadcasting Network. Mike had put together the entire program as part of deal to join the faculty with tenure. It turned out that the deal hadn't been necessary since someone had funded a chair for him at the school. After an hour and a half of informal discussions in which Mike had led them through the war in chronological order beginning with the election of President Archer, Mike said, "We have enough time left to take some questions from the audience. There are microphones along the aisles for those of you who have a question." Upon looking over at the left-most microphone, Mike saw that a student was already standing there waiting to be recognized. Pointing to the young man, he said, "Ask your question." The young man smiled at Mike and, in a very nervous voice, said, "There has been a lot of speculation about the identity of the Hunter. One name keeps coming up in all on all of the websites. Professor Bowman, are you the Hunter?" Mike turned to the panel and asked, "Which one of you wants to address that question?" General Bowman asked, "Wasn't the question directed at you?" His question caused a minor laugh in the room. Mike answered, "I'm just the moderator." President Archer answered, "I'll take a stab at it." Turning to face the young man, President Archer said, "The Hunter has chosen to remain unidentified. Until he chooses to step forward, I'm afraid his identity is classified. I'm not sure why he avoids getting recognition for his great contribution, but I'll respect his wishes on that matter. I feel that as a national hero he should be given the right to remain anonymous." The student bent to the microphone and said, "It sounds like you knew him personally." Smiling, President Archer said, "Yes, I knew him. I knew him quite well. I will say that he was often a pain in my side. He was brutally honest at times and I needed that." A young female voice could be heard across the quiet room, "That sounds like Uncle Mike." "Ssh!" Mike shook his head and said, "In case you haven't guessed, that's my niece, Karen." After the laughter died down, President Archer said, "More often than not, the Hunter told me things that I didn't want to hear. He was also my most trusted source of advice. I would have to say that many of my better decisions as President were a result of advice given to me by the Hunter." One of the faculty members waited at the second microphone. Mike knew that it was her opinion that the military had not received sufficient credit for ending the war. Mike pointed to her and said, "Ask your question." "All three of the panelists have given a lot of credit for the war's end to Homeland Security, but it seems to me that it was the campaign of total war that ended it. I'd like to hear your opinion on that," the woman said. Mike turned to the panelists and said, "I'd like to hear what President Archer has to say about that matter." President Archer said, "No one can deny that Homeland Security played a key role in taking down terrorists within the country. They identified and helped dismantle the entire infrastructure that had been built to support terrorism. They hunted down individual terrorists who had escaped and were planning additional acts of terror. They provided critical information to law enforcement and the National Guard. Their work was outstanding. "When the War on Terror moved to the international front, Homeland Security was there gathering facts on who the terrorists were, where they were, and what they were planning. It was Homeland Security who found Jamal bin Laden. That find led to a very quick and relatively bloodless end of terrorism in a whole region of the world. As a result of a single strike in the Philippines, we didn't have to deal with Indonesia and that would have been a nightmare. Throughout the campaign, Homeland Security was watching the Military's flank so that there weren't any surprises." President Archer paused and then added, "I would say that Homeland Security played a very significant role." Mike looked at his father and asked, "What do you say, General Bowman?" Nodding his head in agreement, General Bowman said, "We were given warnings of actions being undertaken by the enemy days before they could carry them out. You've got to remember that we fought that campaign with an incredibly small force. We put a lot of weapons in the air, but there were only a hundred thousand soldiers on the ground. One surprise and we could have lost every man. There were no surprises and that was due to the diligence of Homeland Security." Mike turned to James and said, "As the former head of Homeland Security, I'm sure that you have something to say." James Wentworth the Third said, "I could be boastful and say that I agree with everything that has been said, but I think that would be a little misleading. Without appropriate leadership at the helm, we would have lost this war. Without a military that, despite how horrible the circumstances were, did what had to be done, we would have lost this war. Homeland Security did its part, but it was just a part." Another member of the faculty was waiting at the microphone. This particular individual was a strong opponent to Mike's joining the faculty in the political science department since he didn't have a degree in the subject area. When called upon by Mike, he said, "It is my opinion that Homeland Security was filled with a lot of racist individuals. Would any of you like to comment on that?" President Archer answered, "What many people may not realize is that many Muslims who remain in this country owe their lives to Homeland Security. For example, Mike Bowman went to extreme lengths to assure that innocent Muslims would not be targeted. He told me once that he would not allow innocent Americans to be killed because of their religion. He told me that after the Jersey City Massacre when many people felt that it was better to kill them all and let God judge their innocence. I'll admit that I was one of those people." James Wentworth the Third said, "There are a lot of people who believed that all of our analysts were white men who leaned politically to the right of Attila the Hun. Many people think that the situation was worsened as a result of the early purge of foreign born analysts. That's a misleading characterization. That purge got rid of a lot of people who put other countries ahead of America. Even after the purge, we had people of every ethnic background working in Homeland Security." Nodding his head, Mike said, "You've got to remember that it was our job to be suspicious of people who were in a position where putting the interests of a foreign government ahead of ours could hurt us significantly. There's that old saying that you should prepare for the worst and hope for the best. It does lead to a suspicious mindset. "That didn't prevent us from admiring and respecting men of foreign birth. One of the great heroes of the war was Amid abd Al- Jabbar. He was a virtual maestro at making sense out of the coded messages that the terrorists were using to coordinate their attacks. He was killed by someone who had lost his family in a terrorist attack. His death was a major setback to our efforts." James said, "There were a lot of men like Amid abd Al-Jabbar in Homeland Security." Mike pointed to the next person and said, "Ask your question." A student said, "President Archer, why was your inauguration was delayed by about ten minutes?" "A security guard discovered an atomic bomb that had been left outside the White House," President Archer answered. Although it had never been classified, this was the first time that he had admitted it in public. His confirmation of what had always been rumored created a minor stir in the room. He held up his fingers an inch apart and said, "We came this close to my Presidency starting with a bang." When the laughter at the pun ended, the student asked, "What happened?" Grinning at Mike, President Archer answered, "Mike Bowman disarmed it. He received the Presidential Medal of Freedom for his quick thinking and calm nerves." General Bowman looked over at the expression on Mike's face and said, "Mike, you were the one who put us in an arm lock and dragged us here. Don't be surprised if some of your secrets come out tonight." "Okay, I suppose I deserved that," Mike said. He looked over at the other microphone and pointed to the man standing there. He said, "Ask your question." The man, wearing a Marine uniform, said, "I served under General Bowman during the war. I am proud to have served under you, sir. I'd like to know why you stepped down when the end of the war was so close." General Bowman had dreaded that question. He sighed and said, "I led one of the most destructive military campaigns in history. We may have killed more people than died in all previous wars throughout history. Some people have accused me of genocide. History will decide if that charge is true. "Many soldiers took part in that campaign, but the orders and the responsibility for the consequences of those orders were mine. Those orders were horrific. I'm the first to admit that. "In my defense, we had a history with respect to fighting terrorists. We lost every time we fought them in the past and that was against even smaller forces than what we faced in that war. We would think we were winning and had forced them out of the territory they held, but they had actually gone underground. They'd bubble up like bad swamp gas and kill our men. We would withdraw and they'd reclaim the territory. They would emerge stronger than when we started. "You've got to remember, we were fighting an enemy that didn't play by the rules. We couldn't tell bystander from foe. The bad guys dressed like everyone else. There were no uniforms. They used innocent civilians as human shields. We had to fight the war as we did. "Although I expect that some people in this room will disagree, I am not a cold blooded killer. Each and every death weighed heavily on my conscience. The problem was that I never saw an alternative. I carried that burden for as long as I could so that no one else would have to shoulder that responsibility or carry that guilt. When people started surrendering I knew that others could continue in my place." Shaking his head, President Archer said, "General Bowman, I have to disagree with you on one point. The orders and responsibility were mine. You were carrying out my orders." "We can argue that point for days, but that is why I stepped down," Robert said in a very soft voice. "I'll concede that point," President Archer said. The soldier said, "I have to say that I appreciate the efforts General Bowman made on the behalf of all the men and women who served under him. The counseling sessions upon our return stateside were very helpful in dealing with the psychological issues associated with our service. I know that my family is very grateful, Sir." "Thank you," General Bowman said. The soldier said, "Semper Fi." The two Bowmans on stage responded, "Oorah." Mike pointed to another faculty member who was waiting at one of the microphones. He recognized the man as a historian who was studying the four years of the President preceding Archer. He said, "Ask your question." The faculty member said, "On one occasion there was a memo released by a group that was called the Intelligence 100. Some feel that memo caused the terrorists to attack. Others say that the attack was coming and that the memo warned our people. That this memo existed was leaked to the press by one of the embassies in Washington, but the actual memo was never published. In fact, that one leak is the only public reference to that group. Was there really an Intelligence 100 and what role did they play in the War On Terror?" Mike gestured to James Wentworth the Third. The man answered, "I was not affiliated with the Intelligence Community at the time that a certain memo signed by the Intelligence 100 was sent out. I can affirm that the memo in the form of an e-mail did exist. I read it and can say that it was one of the finest intelligence assessments that I've ever read. It did not provoke the terrorists into attacking. They were going to attack and did so in the manner predicted by the author or authors. "That memo was responsible for a lot of people reacting to the dirty bomb in an appropriate manner. It put a lot of law enforcement agencies on high alert and that mitigated the consequences of the planned attacks on our country. If it hadn't been sent out, I am sure that we'd have suffered even greater loses. We might even have lost the war." James was quiet for a moment and then said, "The fact of the matter is that I don't know if the Intelligence 100 existed or if that memo was penned by one lone analyst who felt that the country needed to be warned. That question has bugged me for years. Regardless, I am thankful to whoever authored that memo." President Archer glanced over at Mike and then over at James. Looking at the audience, he said, "That topic came up many times while I was President. I was introduced to one individual with the credentials that he was a member of the Intelligence 100. I believe the group existed and that it saved thousands of lives. There are times when I believe that we would have lost the war on terror if it wasn't for the Intelligence 100." James looked over at Mike and asked, "Do you have any comments?" "No. I think you two answered the question quite well," Mike said holding his hands out to his side. After the laughs quieted down, Mike pointed to a young woman standing at the microphone and said, "Ask your question." Not unlike a number of women in the audience, the young woman was topless. She asked, "How close did we come to losing the war? How close did I come to being a slave?" President Archer frowned and looked down at the floor. He turned to Mike and said, "I would like to hear Mike Bowman answer that. Of all of us, I think he has the most insight into that." Mike was silent for a moment and then answered, "That's a very difficult question for me to answer. I saw the war from a very narrow perspective. I do know that we were lucky on many occasions. The attacks on our Intelligence Agencies could have wiped out Homeland Security on at least two occasions. Our entire government could have fallen except for the diligence of the Capitol Police. President Archer could have been killed by the atomic bomb or the attack on the White House. The research into the technologies on which our weapons were based could have been halted by a single person. In fact, they almost were halted. "All in all, I would have to say that we came very close to losing. We were lucky." Shifting in his seat to face Mike, James Wentworth the Third said, "I think it is interesting that a lot of our good luck originated with you, Mike. You released the initial warning about the rail guns. You disarmed the atomic bomb that would have killed President Archer. You and Sanjay single-handedly stopped an attack on Homeland Security that would have resulted in a total loss of our intelligence analysis capabilities." President Archer smiled at Mike and added, "That's true. I always did value your advice in spite of the fact that you were always a pain in my side. You were brutally honest and there were times when I needed that." A young female voice rang out through the auditorium as Karen shouted, "I knew it! Uncle Mike is the Hunter." "Now Karen, we both saw the movie. You know that I'm not that suave or handsome," Mike said. ------- The End ------- Posted: 2007-06-25 Last Modified: 2007-08-29 / 05:14:54 pm ------- http://storiesonline.net/ -------